Luke's New Beginning
by lunajo123
Summary: Jess Mariano becomes a citizen much earlier than on the show leaving Luke the guardian of a seven-year old. Everything changes. AU of course. Jess/Rory friendship considering their kids. Also will be Luke/Lorelai pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Luke gets Jess when he is 7 years old. Rory is 6 in this story which will make Lorelai twenty-two. I'm not sure of the age difference between Luke and Lorelai so I'm going to make him twenty five unless someone knows the actual age difference if so tell me. Also I know there is another story out there right now that has Luke getting custody of Jess when he is little but I didn't steal the story idea from that one, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

* * *

Luke Danes was making a life for himself. His dad had passed away six years ago. In those six years he closed his dad's hardware shop and decided to open his own diner. The diner was wildly popular in his little town of Stars Hollow. Right now he was in the middle of the dinner rush, that's why he was so annoyed when his sister came barging in with his seven-year old nephew. Luke didn't have much contact with his sister in the past few years since she ran away from home with Jess to be with Jimmy Mariano.

"Hey big brother!" Liz yelled spotting Luke across the bustling diner.

"Liz, what are you doing here?" Luke said walking over to his sister.

"I need you to watch Jess for me."

"Liz I'm busy, look around you." Luke gestured to the huge dinner crowd that had gathered in his diner. "I don't have time to watch him."

"He's a great kid Luke. Just set him at a table and give him something to eat. He will be fine. He brought some books along with him. He will not disturb anyone, I promise, please big brother?" Liz pleaded to Luke.

Luke could never refuse his sister. He was always the one there to help her out, to rescue her from whatever mess she managed to get herself into. Liz was the only family he had left. He felt that if he refused to help her she would leave his life forever. She could be over-dramatic in that way. So he knew this time he would help her out once again.

"Sure Liz, I can watch him. Just don't be gone too long. I cannot watch him all day. I'm busy." Luke warned.

"I won't. Thank you; you're the best big brother ever." Liz proclaimed while throwing her arms around Luke. Luke hugged her back. Liz said goodbye to Jess and placed a kiss on his cheek before making her way out the door. Luke took Jess by the hand and led him over to the counter.

"You're my uncle, right?" Jess asked as Luke set him down on a stool.

"That's right. You've been here once before but you were only two so you may not remember." Luke explained. "So what would you like for lunch?"

"Can I have a grilled cheese and some French fries?" Jess asked.

"Sure, now I have to go make your lunch but just sit right here okay? I will be right back; you can read your book in the meantime." Luke said while setting a glass of milk in front of the young boy.

A few minutes later, Luke walked out of the kitchen with Jess' plate. Before setting the plate down he watched his nephew reading. Most kids his age were just learning to read by themselves and still needed help from adults at times but Jess looked like he didn't need any help reading at all. He set the plate down in front of his nephew and went to take care of the other customers.

After making sure the other customers were tended to, Luke walked back over to Jess.

"Are you finished?" Luke asked gesturing to the empty plate. Jess nodded. "Would you like some ice-cream for dessert?" Jess grinned and nodded. "Chocolate or vanilla?" Luke asked.

"Vanilla!" Jess said excitedly. Luke smiled and walked back to the kitchen to fix some ice cream. He returned a few minutes later with a small bowl of ice-cream for Jess in one hand and sprinkles in the other.

"Sprinkles?" Luke asked waving the can of sprinkles in front of Jess' face. Jess nodded and Luke poured sprinkled on top of the ice cream.

Liz was right, Jess was a great kid. He kept to himself and read his books never bothering any of the other customers.

* * *

Two hours later, Liz still hadn't returned and Jess was beginning to get sleepy. Luke carried the small boy upstairs and laid him on his bed to sleep. After making sure Jess was asleep, Luke went downstairs to close the diner. As he was wiping down the counters he heard knocking at the diner door. He looked up to see Liz standing there with several bags in her hands. Luke walked over and unlocked the door for her.

"Liz, what happened to only being gone for a few minutes?" Luke asked in an aggravated tone.

"Sorry big brother but it took longer than expected. Why? Was Jess bad?" Liz asked.

"No, he was fine, just like you said. What's with all the bags Liz?"

"They are Jess' bags. I can't take care of him anymore." Liz said looking down at the ground.

"What do you mean you can't take care of him, you're his mother Liz. That's your job!" Luke said getting angry at his little sister.

"I know but I just can't do it. Jimmy left. He left me and I need him. I can't take care of Jess by myself. I'm not that type of person. I cannot do it anymore Luke." Liz said with tears in her eyes.

"Liz," Luke said exasperated, "I can't take care of him either. I have no room for him here."

"No, you can take care of him; he needs someone like you in his life. You have your life together. I don't have my life together Luke. He needs a strong role model and I cannot be that for him. I just need to be by myself." Liz said.

"You cannot put Jess through this. You can't just leave him here one night and come back a few days later. That can screw the kid up Liz." Luke said softening his tone.

"I know that's why I'm not coming back." Liz explained. "I want you to take care of Jess. If I let him grow up with me he is going to screw up in his own life. My life is already a mess. I can't be responsible for another person messing up their life."

"So you want me to raise Jess? On my own?" Luke asked. "What am I supposed to tell him when he asks where you are?"

"I already told him that he was going to live with you because I had to go away. I told him I would visit but you would be the one taking care of him." Liz said.

"How could you already tell him without asking me first? What would you do if I couldn't do it?" Luke asked raising his voice once again.

"So are you saying that you will do it?" Liz asked hopefully.

"Do I have another choice?" Luke paused for several minutes. "Yes, I will take care of him. I just have to work some things out." Luke said running his hands over his face.

"Oh thank you. I have packed everything he will need. Clothes, toys, books and the papers you will need for school and everything." Liz said handing him a folder with Jess' documents in it. When she handed him the folder Liz grabbed her brother and hugged him tightly. Luke hugged her back. Without saying another word, Liz turned around and left the diner.

Luke sat down at one of the tables and put his head in his hands. What was he going to do? He knew nothing about raising kids. Sure, he took care of his dad and sister when his mom died but they were older and it wasn't like he was raising Liz on his own. His dad was there every step of the way. He didn't have room in his tiny apartment for Jess but he did have a little money saved up, maybe he could pay for a few renovations. He suddenly wished his dad was still alive, he would know what to do in this situation. He had no one to talk to about this. Scratch that, he had one person he could talk to.

Luke suddenly sat up as he remembered the one person that could help him out, the one person that would tell him what to do and that person was Mia. He would go see her tomorrow. He would have to go during one of the diner's lulls but it could be easily arranged. With that in mind, he made a plan for the next day, he would get up and open the diner as usual, feed Jess breakfast then close the diner down during the mid-morning lull and then he would go see Mia. Mia would know what to do; she always knew what to do.

* * *

**So this is just the beginning, I hope you like it. Chapters will get longer as I update the story.**

**Next chapter: Luke goes to talk to Mia and meets a certain Inn employee.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**I already had this chapter written so I decided to go ahead and post it.**

* * *

Luke woke up early the next morning to take care of the breakfast rush. He allowed Jess to sleep in and checked on him every few minutes. After the breakfast rush was long gone and Jess had been fed breakfast, Luke and Jess headed off towards the inn. Luke left Cesar in charge for the time being.

A few minutes later, Luke and Jess arrived at the inn. Luke grabbed Jess' hand and led him up the front porch of the inn and through the door. Luke looked around for Mia but couldn't find her anywhere. After looking around for a few minutes but not finding Mia anywhere, Luke was approached by a young woman.

"Hi, I'm Lorelai Gilmore. Can I help you?" She asked looking up at Luke. She offered him a bright smile.

Luke looked down at this woman that approached him; he noticed her captivating smile and her piercing blue eyes, "Uh yeah. I'm here to see Mia." _She's absolutely beautiful, _he thought. Luke had not paid much attention to girls since Rachel left. Besides there were not too many girls in Stars Hollow around his age that he liked.

"Well she's in her office right now but I can go get her for you. I will be just one minute." Lorelai said before turning to walk away. Suddenly, she turned back around and threw her hands up in the air. "I forgot to ask your name! I really should have remembered to do that." Lorelai exclaimed dramatically.

Luke smiled at her, "I'm Luke Danes. I know Mia personally."

"Okay, Luke Danes, got it! I will let Mia know you're here. Now I'll be just one minute!" Lorelai smiled walking back towards Mia's office.

* * *

Lorelai knocked on the door to Mia's office and waited for her to answer. After Mia told her to come in, Lorelai walked into the office.

"What can I help you with Lorelai?" Mia asked.

"There's someone in the lobby for you. He says his name is Luke Danes." Lorelai answered.

"Oh, I haven't spoken to Lucas in a while. I wonder what he wants." Mia said walking out the door to her office and towards the front lobby with Lorelai quickly following her.

* * *

Back in the front lobby, Luke was standing there with Jess when he saw Mia and Lorelai approaching. Lorelai went and sat at the front desk while Mia talked to Luke.

"Hey Mia," Luke said walking over to the older woman who was like a second mother to him and wrapping her in a hug.

"It's nice to see you Lucas." Mia said unwrapping herself from the hug. "What can I do for you?"

"There's something that I really needed to talk to you about. Can we talk in your office?" Luke asked.

"Of course we can, just come on this way." Mia said gesturing for them to follow her.

Once inside the office, Mia gestured to the chairs for Luke and Jess to sit in. Mia sat down in her own chair and turned to Luke,

"So Luke who is this handsome young man?" she asked pointing to Jess.

"This is Jess, Liz's kid. Remember him? I know it's been awhile since you've seen him." Luke answered.

"Of course, I remember him. My how he's grown. How old is he now?"

"He is seven years old."

"It has been a long time since I've seen him then. I think the last time I remember being around him, he was two or three." Mia said remembering the last time she had spent any time with Jess.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since I've seen him too."

"What did you need to talk about Lucas?" Mia asked.

"Actually I wanted to talk about Jess. Liz came by and dropped him off with me." Luke said hesitantly, he wanted to say more but didn't want Jess to hear him saying everything his mother told him.

Mia picked up on Luke's hesitant reply, "Why don't I take Jess out to sit with Lorelai? She will not mind watching him."

"Are you sure? I don't want to just force her to watch him." Luke said.

"She will love to watch him. Plus, she can take him to get some cookies from Sookie. I'm sure Sookie was plenty already made in the kitchen." Mia said standing up and grabbing Jess' hand. "Come on Jess; let's go introduce you to Lorelai."

Lorelai was sitting at the front desk writing down a reservation when Mia approached her.

"Hey Lorelai, I would like you to meet Jess." Mia said

Lorelai bent down to face Jess at eye-level, "Hi Jess, I'm Lorelai." She said smiling at the young boy. Jess gave a small smile back to her.

"Can you watch him for just a few moments? I really need to speak with Luke and I'm just afraid that he will get bored listening to two adults talk."

"Oh sure. He can sit right up here with me. I don't mind at all."

"Thank you Lorelai, we will not be long." Mia said walking back towards her office.

Lorelai turned to face Jess once again, "So Jess do you like cookies?"

"Who doesn't like cookies?" Jess replied.

Lorelai laughed, "I think we are going to be good friends. Now let's go see Sookie about some cookies. Just follow me," Lorelai said as she walked towards the kitchen.

* * *

"Lorelai was happy to watch him," Mia said as she re-entered her office. She sat down in her office chair and then turned to Luke, "so what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Liz and Jess. Liz came by the diner yesterday and asked me to take care of Jess." Luke said before launching into the details of everything that happened the day before. He told Mia about Liz begging him to take Jess off of her hands. He explained that Liz was not able to take care of him anymore. Luke told Mia about Jimmy leaving Liz and how she was not able to take care of Jess by herself. He explained that Liz said Luke was a good role-model and that Jess would be better raised by Luke than by her. He told Mia about how Liz was not planning on coming back to take him, she was only going to come by and visit when she wanted too.

"I finally told her that I would take care of him but I know nothing about raising kids Mia." Luke said after finishing his story.

"I know Lucas but I'm here for you. It will be hard at first but you will get the hang of it, I'm sure of it. I will be here for any questions that you have. You know that you can come to me at any time." Mia explained.

"I'm just not sure what my first move with him should be." Luke said.

"Well first, you need to get him enrolled in school. He's six so he most likely will be in the first grade. It depends on what grade he was in at his old school. You can probably go up to Stars Hollow Elementary today and get him enrolled." Mia said.

"Yeah, I know that I need to get him enrolled. I guess I should do that first. I just don't have that much room for him in my apartment. I don't even have a bed for him." Luke said.

"The inn has a few small beds that we are not currently using. I could loan you one until your able to get him his own bed, if you would like that." Mia offered.

"That would be so great, Mia. When could I get the bed?" Luke asked.

"You could get it right now, if you wanted too. I have a few guys here that can help you load it onto your truck. They can take apart the bed frame so it will fit into your truck." Mia explained.

Luke smiled, "okay, well I can take it now, if that's okay."

"That's fine. Come on, I will go round up the guys and help you get the bed." Mia said gesturing for Luke to follow her out of her office.

Mia and Luke walked around the inn until they found people that had time to help load the bed onto his truck. Luke pulled his truck up closer to the inn so they would not have a far way to carry the bed frame and the mattress. They got everything quickly loaded into the back of Luke's truck with Mia calling out the orders. After loading up the truck, they walked back into the inn.

* * *

Lorelai was sitting at the front desk with Jess. Lorelai was talking on the phone to a guest while also playing tic-tac-toe with Jess. She, of course, was letting Jess win.

"I win again!" Jess said.

"How do you keep winning? You are just too good at this game." Lorelai said laughing as she hung up the phone.

"It sounds like the two of you are having fun," Mia exclaimed walking up to the front desk.

Lorelai smiled up at Mia and Luke, "Yea, we had a great time together, right Jess? I would even say that we are best friends now."

"Yes, Lorelai let me have some cookies," Jess said looking over at Luke.

"Hopefully not too many cookies." Luke replied.

"Oh Luke, there's no such thing as too many cookies," Lorelai stated smiling over at Luke.

"I beg to differ." Luke smirked, "Jess, we need to get going." Luke said.

"Why don't you let Jess stay here while you run your errands? I'm sure that he will be much happier staying at the inn than off running around with you while you're busy." Mia suggested.

Luke turned towards Jess, "Do you want to stay here with Mia and Lorelai?" he asked.

Jess nodded, "Yeah."

"Jess, listen to both of them. I will not be gone for too long." Luke instructed to Jess.

"Jess will be fine here with us Lucas. Now you leave and finish whatever it is you need to do. Don't worry about how long you're gone. We can take care of him." Mia said pushing Luke towards the door to leave. She pushed him all the way out the front door and towards his truck. "Jess will fine. Now just go." Mia said once again, "We can take care of him."

Luke smiled at Mia's attempt to get him to leave and climbed into his truck. He decided to go by the school first and get Jess registered before going back to his apartment.

* * *

After getting Jess registered for school and fixing his apartment to accommodate Jess, Luke headed back towards the inn to pick up Jess. When he walked in, he noticed that Lorelai was nowhere around but Jess was sitting at the front desk with Mia. He had hoped to see Lorelai one more time today but she didn't seem to be around.

"Hey Jess, Mia," Luke said walking over to the front desk. "Thank you for watching him today."

"No problem Luke, Lorelai watched him most of the time anyways because I was stuck in my office with paperwork for a while." Mia replied, "Jess was a perfect little angel the entire time though, at least that is what Lorelai said."

"Oh well thank her for me when you see her again," Luke said.

Mia nodded, "Well you can tell her yourself, she should be back soon, she just went to get Rory. So did you get Jess all registered for school?"

"Yes, he is all registered and he will start the first grade on Monday. I just need to go get him some school supplies but I figured we could do that tomorrow."

"Sounds like you're getting everything together quite nicely. Just like I knew you would," Mia replied with a smile.

"Thanks for helping me today Mia, I really appreciate it. I should get going now though. I really need to get back to the diner." Luke said.

"Okay Lucas, well stop by anytime you need anything. I would love to spend more time with you and Jess. I would like to get to know Jess a little bit."

"I might have to take you up on that offer. Come on Jess, we really need to get going," Luke said extending his hand out to Jess. Jess grabbed his hand and the two started walking towards the door. Luke turned around, "Thanks again Mia, see you around."

"Bye Lucas." Mia said as she watched Luke and Jess walk out the door.

Luke helped Jess climb into his truck. After getting him strapped into the seatbelt, Luke headed back towards the diner to give Cesar a well-deserved break. Luke needed to talk to Cesar about giving him more responsibilities now that he had Jess to take care of. He would have to take time off to take Jess to school and pick him up starting Monday morning. Once they arrived at the diner, Luke took over for Cesar while Jess sat quietly and read his book.

* * *

**Next chapter: Jess goes to school and makes a new friend.**


	3. First Day of School and Dinners

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

* * *

Monday morning, Luke woke Jess up early for his first day at Stars Hollow Elementary.

"Any special requests for breakfast Jess?" Luke asked from the kitchen while Jess sat on the couch.

Jess thought for a minute, "French toast?"

"French toast it is then." Luke said as he gathered all the necessary ingredients to make the french toast. After he finished cooking, he plated the french toast and sliced up some strawberries to go along with it. "Jess, your breakfast is ready."

Jess walked over and sat down at the table and dug into his french toast, "Do I have to eat the strawberries too?" Jess asked. Luke sat down next to Jess and started eating his bowl of oatmeal.

"I want you to at least some of them; you need to eat fruit because it is healthy." Luke explained.

Jess nodded and ate the fruit with no further complaints. After finishing all of his breakfast, Luke grabbed Jess' backpack that was now filled with school supplies and guided him to the apartment door.

* * *

A few minutes later, Luke and Jess arrived at Stars Hollow Elementary School. Luke climbed out of his truck and walked over to help Jess out of his side of the truck. Once Jess was out of the truck, Luke helped Jess to put his backpack on his shoulders. As they walked up to the school, Luke noticed a young woman walking up to the school holding the hand of a little girl who looked identical to her. As they walked closer, Luke noticed it was the young woman that he met at the Inn yesterday.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked as she walked by.

Lorelai looked up when she heard her name and smiled, "Oh hey it's Luke right?"

"Yeah, it's Luke," Luke replied.

Lorelai nodded, "Hey Jess. This is my daughter Rory. Do you two already know each other?" she asked.

"No," Rory said. "Hey Jess."

"Hey Rory," Jess replied.

"Oh and this is Jess' dad, Luke," Lorelai said introducing her daughter to Luke.

"Actually, I'm Jess' uncle. He is staying with me for a little while," Luke replied.

"Sorry, I just assumed you were his dad. Anyways so would this be Jess' first day then?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, it is his first day."

"Great. So Jess what grade are you in?" Lorelai asked.

"First grade," Jess said.

Rory smiled, "Me too! Who is your teacher?" she asked looking at Jess.

"Umm who is my teacher?" Jess asked looking up at Luke.

"Mrs. Turner," Luke answered.

"We have the same teacher! Come on I can show you to the classroom," Rory said rushing off towards the school still holding onto Lorelai's hand.

"Whoa watch it kid, you still have a grip on mommy's hand." Lorelai said regaining her balance. "Plus I think Luke would like to walk him in for his first day."

"Sorry," Rory said.

"It is fine but I'm sure you could show both Jess and Luke the way to the classroom. I think they would both appreciate that," Lorelai looked over at Luke and winked.

"Yeah, you can show us the way," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled, "See you're already a big help Rory," she said bending over to hug Rory, "Now I'll see you after school. Have a great day, love you," she dropped a kiss on Rory's head before standing back up. Lorelai noticed Luke's eyes watching her intently as she stood back up and blushed slightly. She was used to guys checking her out but there was something different about it with Luke.

"Love you too," Rory replied.

"I have to get back to the Inn now so I will see you after school. Have a great first day Jess. Rory, you be a great little tour guide for Jess. Bye," she said waving as she walked away.

"Bye Lorelai," Luke said to her retreating figure.

"Okay, let's go I will show you to the classroom," Rory said marching off towards the school. Luke and Jess looked at one another then quickly followed.

* * *

Luke and Jess followed Rory throughout the school. She chattered on and on about the school and different classrooms that they passed. Luke was surprised at how much this little girl was talking to people that she barely knew. Rory finally led them to a classroom whose door was standing wide open.

Rory went in and walked straight towards the teacher, "Mrs. Turner, we have a new student here." She said gesturing over towards Luke and Jess. Rory went and took a seat at one of the tables in the classroom.

"Oh this must be Jess," Mrs. Turner said walking over to Luke and Jess.

"Yes, this is Jess and I'm Luke Danes, his uncle."

"Well it is nice to meet you both. I can take Jess from here. He will be fine, so don't worry," Mrs. Turner said smiling at Luke.

"Okay. Well Jess, I will pick you up later then. Have a good day," Luke said before walking out of the classroom. Once Luke was outside of the school, he climbed back into his truck and left the schoolyard headed back towards the diner.

Back inside the classroom, Mrs. Turner led Jess to the front of the classroom. She clapped her hand together to get the class' attention.

"Pay attention my little first graders, today we have a new student. His name is Jess Mariano. He is new to Stars Hollow. He just moved here from New York," Mrs. Turner announced. "Say hello to Jess class."

"Hello Jess," the class said in unison.

"Now Jess, you can sit at this table," Mrs. Turner said leading Jess to a table. There were ten tables with two chairs at every table. "You can hang your backpack on the back of your chair if needed." She said placing Jess backpack on his chair. "You can sit here next to Rory since you two seem to know each other already. She will be a great help to you if you happen to need any help. At any time today if you do not understand something or just need help with anything just tell me, okay? Don't be afraid to speak up."

"Okay," Jess replied. Mrs. Turner smiled and walked back to her desk to gather up the lessons for the day.

Rory finished getting her school supplies out of her backpack and turned to Jess, "So did you just move to Stars Hollow?"

"Yeah," Jess replied. "I used to live in New York."

Before Rory could reply, the teacher called the class to attention once again. She began passing out papers going over their first lesson for the day. Jess grabbed a pencil out of his backpack as the teacher began the lesson. Jess quickly caught up on the lesson and understood everything the teacher was saying.

* * *

Later that day at recess, Rory went and sat under the shade of the tree while every other kid played on the playground and chased one another around. Rory wasn't up for playing with the other kids. All she cared about was reading her books. Rory was engrossed in reading Pippi Longstocking when she heard someone talking to her. She looked up and noticed Jess standing in front of her.

"What book are you reading?" Jess asked.

"Pippi Longstocking," Rory said. "Have you read it?" she asked.

Jess shook his head, "No, I haven't. It seems like a girl book."

"That doesn't matter, you could still read it," Rory said stubbornly. She noticed he was holding a book in his hand, "What book are you reading then?"

"The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," Jess replied.

"I love that book. I have read it twice already," Rory replied. "This is where I usually read at recess but you can read here too. I don't mind sharing. " she said scooting over making room for Jess to sit next to her.

"Thanks Rory," Jess said before sitting down next to her. He leaned back against the tree and opened up his book. Rory also leaned back up against the tree and tried to concentrate on her reading but she really wanted to learn more about Jess since he was new in town.

Rory sat up and turned towards Jess, "You said you were from New York. What's that like? I have never been. I want to go; my mom says we can go there one day."

"I lived there with my mom and dad. Living there was a lot different from here. New York is a lot bigger than Stars Hollow. There are so many people there," Jess said. "It's also very loud. We didn't have recess at my old school like recess here. We mainly stayed inside for recess."

"The only time we stay inside for recess is when it snows a lot. Sometimes the teachers let us play in the snow though. Why did you move to Stars Hollow?" Rory asked.

"My mom said I had to live with my uncle for a little while because she had something to do. I think it has to do with my dad," Jess said.

"Oh," Rory replied. "Do you like Stars Hollow?"

Jess shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I haven't been here for that long. I just moved here a few days ago. Do you like living here?"

"Yeah, my mom and I don't get away from the Inn that much because she works all the time. We do go to the festivals though. They are fun," Rory said. "How did you know my mom already?" she asked suddenly.

"My uncle took me to the Inn to meet Mia the other day. Your mom was there. I stayed with her while my uncle had some things to do," Jess replied.

Rory nodded. They both looked up when they heard the teacher whistle. "That's means that recess is over," Rory informed Jess. "We have to go back inside now."

"Alright," Jess said standing up. He closed his book and held it under his arm. Rory did the same thing with her book before walking back inside the school with the rest of her class.

* * *

Luke pulled up in front of the school once again. He was there earlier than he should have been but did not want to miss Jess getting out of school. He was debating on whether he should wait in his truck or wait close to the door of the school when he saw Lorelai walk up to the school and sit on a bench. He decided that he would get out and wait on the bench as well. Luke climbed out of his truck and made his way over to the bench. He sat down on the opposite end of the bench from Lorelai. She was busy staring off into space and did not notice him sit down. After a few minutes, she finally broke out of her thoughts and noticed someone sitting on the bench with her.

"Hey Luke," she greeted.

"Hey Lorelai," he replied.

"You're here early, worried about how his first day went?" Lorelai asked.

Luke smiled, "A little. This whole town is new to him. I haven't really spent a lot of time with him so I'm not sure how he reacts to school or anything like that." He said.

"I'm sure he's fine. Rory has probably been by his side all day, especially since he is new. She just loves meeting new people. I'm sure she has been asking me all kinds of questions all day. She wants to be a journalist when she grows up." Lorelai paused. "He seems like a nice kid. I'm trusting Rory showed you the way to the classroom this morning with non-stop chattering."

Luke laughed, "Yeah she did. She told us all about the school as we passed through."

Lorelai laughed. Luke smiled over at her as she laughed. _She looks so pretty when she laughs, _he thought.

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like Rory. If there is one thing she will talk non-stop about to complete strangers it is school. That or books, she loves to read."

"Jess does too. I always see him with a book in his hands," Luke said.

"Well then I'm sure they are already best friends. I swear Rory has already read more books than I ever have. That's the only thing that she ever wants when we go shopping," Lorelai said. The school bell rang announcing that the school day was over. Luke and Lorelai both stood up and walked to stand closer to the school doors.

"Do we just wait here or go inside to get them?" Luke asked.

"I just wait here, most people do. They should be out in just a minute," Lorelai said turning away from Luke to watch the doors for Rory.

After a few minutes, Luke spotted Jess walking out of the school with Rory. They were chatting back and forth. Jess saw where Luke was standing and started walking over to him.

"I've never read that book before," Rory said as she walked up to where her mom was standing.

"Well you should read it then," Jess replied.

"Already bonding over books?" Lorelai asked looking down at her daughter.

"Of course," Rory replied, "Jess reads a lot just like I do."

"Well it seems like the two of you may just grow to be best friends," Lorelai replied. "So how did your first day go Jess?"

"It was fine. Rory helped me out. She showed me where she reads at recess," Jess said.

"See Luke, I told you he would be fine," Lorelai said smiling over at Luke.

"Yeah," Luke replied. "Well Jess we need to go; I have to get back to the diner."

"Yeah we need to get going too Rory. The Inn awaits us," Lorelai said in a dramatic fashion causing both Rory and Jess to laugh. "So say bye to Jess, we will see him tomorrow."

"Bye Jess," Rory said.

"Bye Rory," Jess replied.

"Bye Lorelai," Luke said.

"Bye Luke, see you both again tomorrow for school," Lorelai said as she turned to walk away. Lorelai waved once more before grabbing Rory's hand and walking off in the direction of the Inn. Luke watched her walk away before walking with Jess back to his truck and heading towards the diner.

* * *

Thursday night, Luke and Jess found themselves at the Independence Inn. Mia had called Luke earlier in the week and discussed having dinner with him and Jess at some point so she could get to know Jess a little better. She also wanted to check on Luke and see how he was handling everything with Jess. Luke and Jess stood in the front lobby of the Inn, not quite sure where to go for their dinner with Mia.

"Oh Lucas, Jess there you are; I have been waiting on you," Mia said as she walked out of the dining room towards them.

Luke smiled, "Hey Mia, sorry if we are running a little behind," he said wrapping his arms around Mia.

Mia hugged Luke then bent down to talk to Jess, "How are you doing Jess?" she asked.

"I'm good," Jess replied.

Mia stood back up, "Great. Now just follow me. Our dinner should be out in just a few minutes." Mia walked into the dining room and sat down at one of the empty tables.

Rory walked into the dining room and headed towards Mia, "Mia, have you seen my mom?"

"She's not at the front desk?" Mia asked. Rory shook her head no. "I just saw here there. She's probably in the kitchen with Sookie getting coffee. You know how she is. Did you need something dear?"

"No, I was just wondering where she was," Rory replied. She looked up and noticed Luke and Jess sitting at the table as well. "Hey Jess. Hey Luke," she said waving.

"Hey Rory," Jess said smiling. The two had grown close over the past few days since Jess began the first grade. Their mutual love of books cemented their friendship. They spent every recess by the tree reading and discussing the books they were reading.

Rory looked up as she heard the kitchen door open and saw her mother emerge bearing a fresh cup of coffee, "You were right about the coffee," Rory said to Mia before making her way over to Lorelai.

Mia laughed before waving Lorelai over to the table, "Lorelai, have you and Rory eaten dinner yet?" she asked.

Lorelai shook her head, "No, not yet. I was just going to get Rory something to eat. I'm still on the clock for another hour so I was going to eat then. Why?"

"Why don't you have dinner with us?" Mia asked.

"I'm still working though," Lorelai replied.

"I can let you take off a little bit earlier. Plus you said that Rory and Jess are good friends. If you and Rory join us for dinner then Rory and Jess can keep each other entertained. I'm afraid Jess will be bored listening to Luke and I talk," Mia said.

"I really don't want to crash your dinner."

"You're not crashing, I'm asking you to join. Besides I'm sure Luke won't mind. Would you Luke?" Mia asked. Mia thought Luke spending time with another adult, like Lorelai, was a good thing because she knew that he rarely left the diner or his apartment especially now that he had Jess. She also knew that he and Lorelai talked on a daily basis at the school and were becoming friends as well.

"No, I wouldn't mind," Luke said.

"Well if it gets me out of work an hour early and it involves food then I guess I can join you for dinner," Lorelai said. Rory moved and sat down next to Mia.

"Can I sit next to Rory?" Jess asked from his current seat.

"Sure, just no playing around at the table," Luke said. Jess jumped up from his chair and moved to sit next to Rory.

Lorelai looked around and noticed the only empty seat was next to Luke now. She moved to sit down, "I hope you don't mind sitting next to me Luke because it looks like you have no other choice," she joked.

Luke laughed, "I don't mind."

"Good, now just don't try to steal my food. That will only end up bad for you," Lorelai warned. "What are we having for dinner anyways?" she asked Mia.

"Well I wasn't exactly sure what Jess would eat so I told Sookie to keep it simple for tonight. She is making a salad and some type of spaghetti. I told her to keep it sort-of kid friendly as well. I figured spaghetti was a safe choice," Mia replied.

"Sounds good to me," Lorelai said.

A few minutes later Sookie brought out their food. Lorelai picked at her salad before moving on to her spaghetti. Luke made sure Jess at least at most of his salad so he would get some of his vegetables. Rory picked around her salad much like Lorelai did before digging into her spaghetti. After eating, everyone at the table started talking to one another.

"So Jess how do you like school?" Mia asked.

"It's alright," Jess replied before turning back to Rory. Mia watched them talking animatedly about their schoolwork before turning to Luke.

"Are you getting used to having a little kid around?" Mia asked looking over at Luke.

"Sort of, he's old enough to tell me what he likes or doesn't like so that's not hard to guess. He actually listens pretty well when I tell him to do something to. He hasn't really put up a fight over too many things." Luke said. "The only thing he complains about is his bedtime but he needs his sleep."

"Well it certainly seems like you are getting everything together," Mia said. "I knew you would though. You're a great guy Luke."

"Honestly, I thought it would be a lot harder to care for me but I think I'm pretty lucky that Jess has acted the way he has. After things he went through with Liz, I expected him to be more of a fight," Luke replied.

"Well having you as a role model now, I think has really affected him. Plus making friends with Rory is always a good thing. She's a great girl," Mia said.

"Yeah she is. She talks non-stop about Jess since they met," Lorelai said.

"Jess is quiet but when he does talk he likes to talk about Rory and what they did at school that day," Luke said.

"They are definitely kindred spirits," Mia said.

Lorelai turned to Luke, "Rory mentioned something to me the other day and I thought it sounded like a good idea. What are you doing Saturday?"

"Well I do have a diner to run so I will be there Saturday. Why?" Luke asked nervously.

"Oh well Rory mentioned something about hanging out with Jess outside of school and I have Saturday off so I thought about taking Rory to the park for a picnic. I was going to invite you and Jess along but if you have to work then don't worry about it," Lorelai said.

"Sorry, I just really can't get away from the diner Saturday," Luke said.

"What if you just invite Jess along?" Mia said. "If Luke cannot get away from the diner and Rory wants to hang out with Jess then maybe Jess can come to the Inn or something. That way the kids still have their play time."

"That could work. I could still take both kids to the park and have a picnic then bring them back to the Inn for a little while that way Jess isn't cooped up in the diner all day," Lorelai said.

"I couldn't ask you to do that Lorelai," Luke said.

"You're not asking. I'm offering." Lorelai replied. She noticed the hesitant look on Luke's face. "I know, it may seem weird to leave Jess with some woman you just met but Mia totally trusts me, right Mia?"

Mia smiled, "Lorelai will take great care of Jess. You can trust her."

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Luke asked.

"Cross my heart. Come on, don't disappoint that cute little face," Lorelai said pointing over to Rory who was paying the adults no attention. "She's looking forward to spending time with her best friend."

Luke smiled, "Okay, I guess Jess can spend the day with you and Rory."

"Aha victory!" She said throwing her fist up in the air. Luke laughed. "I will swing by the diner Saturday around 10ish to pick Jess up then," she said. "Well dinner was great but it is getting close to bedtime. Come on Rory, tell Jess goodbye until tomorrow."

Rory stood up from the table and waved to Jess, "Bye Jess."

"Bye Rory," Jess replied. Lorelai and Rory walked out of the dining room.

"We should get going then too." Luke said standing up from the table. "Thanks for dinner Mia it was great."

"Thank you for stopping by Lucas, it was nice to spend time with you and Jess." She said giving Luke a hug. After hugging Luke, she bent down and gave Jess a hug. "I guess I will see you again on Saturday Jess."

"Bye Mia," Luke said as he turned to walk out of the Inn with Jess by his side.

"You two have a good night," Mia said.

Luke turned around, "You too," he replied before exiting the Inn, guiding Jess to the truck.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be Jess and Rory's little playdate, if you want to call it that, maybe a little of Luke and Lorelai getting a little closer.**

**Please leave a review!**

**Ablanca07: I like seeing Jess and Rory as little kids. Thanks for leaving reviews!**

** : Me too!**

**Scarlet3086: Thanks for leaving reviews!**

**Nancy: Mia can always help and so can Lorelai. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Biancaruth: I always liked these kind of stories too. Thanks for leaving reviews!**


	4. Picnics and Hide-n-Seek

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

* * *

Saturday morning, Luke was tending to one of his customers when he heard the diner bell ring out. He looked up and saw Lorelai standing in the doorway holding a picnic basket. Rory was next to Lorelai holding onto her mother's hand. Lorelai smiled and walked over to the counter where Luke was standing.

"Hey is Jess ready to go?" she asked.

"He is just upstairs putting his shoes on," Luke said. He leaned over the counter, "Are you sure you don't mind watching him today?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "For the last time Luke, I don't mind. Rory is super excited for today. I was the one that invited Jess along. If I didn't want him to come, I would not have asked you about this. I'm happy to take him today."

"I'm just making sure," Luke said. Jess came running out from behind the curtain. He spotted Rory and ran over to her.

"I'll bring him back this afternoon before dinner time," Lorelai said. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that will be fine. Bring him back whenever you're ready," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled, "Well then I guess I will see you later, bye Luke," she gave a small wave.

Luke waved back as the trio walked out of the diner. He watched as Lorelai grabbed both of the kids' hands before leading them off into the direction of the park.

* * *

A few minutes after leaving the diner, Lorelai arrived at the park with the two kids. They followed her over to a bench where she set the picnic basket down.

"Okay, since it is still early, you two can go play for a little while then we will eat lunch. I'm just going to sit over here," Lorelai said. "Now you two go ahead and play, have fun, come get me if you need anything," she said sitting down on the bench.

Rory and Jess walked off in the direction of the swingset first. Jess sat down on the swing next to Rory. They both started swinging quietly.

Jess turned his head towards Jess, "I bet I can swing higher than you."

"No way," Rory said defensively as she began swinging faster. When Jess noticed Rory's increased speed, he began trying to swing faster and higher than her.

Lorelai looked up from her book when she heard the sounds of Rory and Jess laughing. She noticed how high they were swinging and decided to walk over to the swings for herself. She stood off to the side of the swingset, "Now be careful, I don't need anyone getting injured on my watch."

"We're being careful Mom," Rory replied.

"Just making sure, I don't want Luke mad at me if Jess gets injured and I don't want you hurt. You know I don't like dealing with boo-boos," Lorelai said. "Just please be careful," she said walking away from the swingset once again.

Rory started slowing her swing down while Jess was still swinging high, "Hah I won," Jess said.

"I'll win next time," Rory replied. She was just trying to listen to her mother instead of thinking about the swinging contest with Jess. After claiming his victory, Jess started slowing his swing down to match Rory's speed.

Rory turned to look at Jess, "You know you should meet my best friend Lane," Rory said.

"Is she in our class?" Jess asked.

"Yeah but she was out this week because she had to go somewhere with her mom or something," Rory replied.

"Does she like to read too?" Jess asked.

"Yeah but her mom doesn't let her reads all the books I read because she is really strict but when she comes over to the Inn, my mom lets her listen to all of our music," Rory replied.

"Do you live at the Inn?" Jess asked.

Rory nodded, "Yeah, we live in the shed behind the Inn."

"That's weird," Jess replied.

"Well you live at the diner," Rory said. "That's weird too."

Before Jess could reply, Lorelai walked back over announcing that she was hungry so they were going to go ahead and eat lunch. They walked over to the grass where Lorelai had the picnic blanket set up. Lorelai sat down cross-legged on the blanket while Jess and Rory did the same thing.

"So for lunch we have peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. Do you like that Jess?" Lorelai asked.

Jess nodded, "Yeah, I do."

Lorelai smiled, "Good because that is about as far as my cooking expertise goes. I can make sandwiches and that's it."

Rory laughed, "Yeah, she can't cook. She tried to make macaroni one time and ended up burning it." Jess laughed at this while Lorelai acted offended.

"You don't complain about that missy, you liked the pizza we ordered after the unfortunate macaroni incident," Lorelai replied. She passed off sandwiches to Jess and Rory, "Just eat your sandwiches and stop making fun of your poor Mommy," she pouted.

Rory rolled her eyes at how dramatic her mother was being, "Where's our juice?"

"Ahh I knew there was something I was forgetting," Lorelai said reaching into the picnic basket, "I hope apple juice is okay for you Jess, that's what Rory wanted today."

"I like apple juice," Jess replied.

"I'm really like you Jess, you are such an agreeable kid, just like Rory," Lorelai replied.

Rory laughed as she ate her sandwich, "Haha Jess is a girl."

"I'm not a girl!" Jess replied.

Lorelai smiled, "Okay, no fighting you two. I was not calling him a girl," she said as she grabbed her thermos of coffee out of the picnic basket. She took a sip and smiled.

"Can I have coffee?" Rory asked.

"Oh no no, coffee is for adults. You're too little for coffee right now sweetie. When you're older," Lorelai promised.

"Like when I'm seven?" Rory asked hopefully.

"We'll see, maybe that will be your birthday present," Lorelai teased.

"You're only six?" Jess asked looking at Rory.

"Yes but I'll be seven in a few weeks," Rory said. "You should come to my birthday party." She turned to look at her mother. "Can Jess come?"

Lorelai smiled, "Of course he can. I would love to have him there."

"When is it?" Jess asked.

"I will give your uncle the information as the party gets closer," Lorelai said. "Now you two finish eating your lunch."

Rory and Jess quickly finished eating their sandwiches as Lorelai finished hers. "I'm done now," Rory said. "Can we go play again?"

"Wait, you don't want your cookies?" Lorelai asked. "There are Sookie's famous chocolate chocolate chip cookies; double the chocolate, double the yumminess," she said waving cookies in their faces.

"I want one," Jess said. Lorelai handed both him and Rory a cookie. After finishing their first cookie, the both got another one. Once they had their fill of cookies, Lorelai sent them back to play on the playground while she packed up the picnic basket. She left the blanket on the ground and she leaned back and watched them play.

Lorelai was sitting there when she noticed a shadow cast onto the blanket. She looked up to see Luke standing beside the blanket, "Um hi, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"There was a lull in the diner, I left Cesar in charge for a few minutes," Luke replied.

Lorelai nodded her head and patted the spot next to her, "Sit down, it's easier to talk to you if I don't have to stretch my neck."

Luke smiled and sat down next to Lorelai, "How's everything going with Jess?"

"He's a great kid, he has been perfectly fine." Lorelai replied. She turned to look at Jess, "Is that the real reason you came to the park, to check up on Jess?"

"No, there really was a lull in the diner. It was a crazy morning, I just wanted to get away from the diner," Luke said. "I trust you with Jess."

"You barely know me and you already trust me, I like your instincts Luke," Lorelai replied.

"Should I trust you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, "I have a kid of my own. You can totally trust me; I treat Jess like I treat Rory so you have nothing to worry about. I'm a responsible person."

"Do you want a cookie?" Lorelai asked holding up a chocolate cookie.

Luke waved his hand, "I don't really eat cookies."

"Who doesn't eat cookies?" Lorelai asked.

"They are not healthy," Luke said. "Especially those, they are all chocolate."

"That's what makes them so good. Sookie makes the best cookies. Come on just eat one," Lorelai encouraged him putting the cookie closer to his face. Luke shook his head but Lorelai kept moving the cookie closer until he took a tiny bite out of it. Lorelai smiled, "See, you ate the cookie and nothing bad happened."

"That cookie is really sweet," Luke commented after swallowing the tiny piece of cookie.

"That's why it is great," Lorelai said.

"How long have you and Rory lived here?" Luke asked.

"Nice segue there," Lorelai said sarcastically. "Why do you ask?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "I have lived here all my life and I have never met you and this is a small town. Plus you said I don't really know you."

"True. I moved here with Rory when she was one and she is turning seven soon so about six years. We don't get out into town much. We go to all the festivals though, I'm sure we may have passed each other there and never noticed," Lorelai replied.

"I doubt that. I don't go to festivals," Luke said.

"Why not?" Lorelai asked.

"They're stupid." Luke replied.

"No they are not, they are fun. Rory and I love them. The festivals are one of the only times we actually get away from the Inn," Lorelai replied.

"What do you mean get away from the Inn?" Luke asked confused.

"Well Rory and I kind of live at the Inn. We stay in the potting shed behind the Inn. It's not much but it is all I can really afford at this point. I'm saving up for a house for the two of us," Lorelai replied. She turned her head away from Luke and watched the kids play on the playground. Jess was chasing Rory around.

"You see, I had Rory when I was 16 and I did not want to live in my parent's house because I didn't want her growing up in that environment so I ran away from home with Rory when she was one. Somehow we just ended up here and I went to the inn. Mia took us in, gave me a job and a place to stay. I have been there ever since," Lorelai admitted. She didn't know why she was admitting all this to Luke, who she barely knew but something about it just felt right.

"I think that's very brave," Luke said.

"Really?" Lorelai asked quietly.

"Yeah, you wanted something different for your daughter and you weren't afraid to go after it," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled brightly over at Luke, "Thanks Luke. That means a lot. You're not like the other guys I have talked too."

"What do you mean by that?" Luke asked.

"Most guys find out that I was a teenage mother and automatically assume I'm easy to get into bed so that's how they treat me but you're actually treating me like a person and not just another conquest to earn a notch in their bedpost. You're different, I like that." Lorelai said.

Luke was momentarily stunned by her openness about the topic but then turned to look at her, "Well those guys are idiots."

Lorelai laughed, "You're right."

They fell back into a comfortable silence as they turned their attention back to Rory and Jess who were now swinging once again. Lorelai smiled as she watched Rory laughing and playing with Jess. Luke watched Lorelai and noticed how happy she looked while watching her daughter play which caused a smile to cross his face.

"I should get back to the diner now," Luke said standing up. "You still okay watching Jess?"

"I'm fine Luke. I was going to take them back to the Inn soon to play there for a little while anyways," Lorelai said. "See you later," she said waving.

"Bye Lorelai," Luke said waving back as he turned to walk away.

* * *

Lorelai noticed the sky beginning to fill with angry looking clouds so she escorted the two children back to the Inn. Once they were back at the Inn, Rory wanted to show Jess her book collection so Lorelai led them back to the potting shed where they lived. Lorelai worked on her current sewing project which was a special birthday dress for Rory while Jess and Rory read through some of the books. After a little while, Lorelai put her sewing project down and watched the kids read. She was getting bored just watching them read so she started thinking of games they could play. Suddenly, Lorelai had an idea.

"Hey you two, do you want to go play hide-n-seek?" she asked.

"Where are we going to play?" Rory asked. "There are not many places to hide in here," she said looking around the room.

"I know but we can play in the Inn like the last time when Lane stayed the night. That was fun, right?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, that was fun," Rory said. She turned to Jess, "Do you want to play hide-n-seek?"

Jess nodded his head, "Sure but who is going to count?"

"I can count first. Plus the Inn has more hiding spaces for little kids then they do for adults," Lorelai said.

"Hey, remember that time we played hide-n-seek and you forgot to look for me?" Rory asked. She thought back on the memory and laughed.

Jess laughed, "You forgot to find her? I don't know if I want to play."

Lorelai laughed, "It was one time and I was working that day so I was busy. I didn't really forgot, I just got distracted by some guests. I will find both of you this time. Don't worry, come on let's go to the inn." Lorelai led them outside and started walking towards the inn.

"If we want to play in the Inn, we have to obey a few rules set by Mia. First, we do not hide in the kitchen. Sookie gets hurt enough without kids trying to find a hiding spot. Second, no hiding in the guests' room. Lastly, no running into people, so just be careful of where you are walking," Lorelai said.

"Also the front desk is where you count at," Rory said as she walked into the Inn.

"Right, that is mainly to annoy Michel, so everyone understand?" Lorelai asked looking down at the two kids. Rory and Jess nodded. "For my turn, I'm going to use the kitchen to count that way, you can hide near the front desk if you need too. So go hide now!" Lorelai said excitedly as she walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Sookie," Lorelai called out.

"Oh hey Lorelai, where are Rory and Jess?" Sookie asked as she stirred the peach sauce she was working on.

"They are hiding, we are playing hide-n-seek and I'm the one seeking them so I'm in here to count," Lorelai replied.

"I see. How long are you going to make them wait before you go find them?" Sookie teased.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "One time I got distracted while playing and accidently made Rory wait awhile before I found her and no one will let me live it down. Rory even joked about it!"

"I just can't believe you forgot," Sookie said laughing.

Lorelai laughed, "I had to take care of a guest because I was technically working at the time. I was supposed to be on break but Michel wouldn't do anything! Rory forgave me soon after I forgot."

"Poor Rory was left hiding."

"Which reminds me, I'm leaving to go find them. Bye Sookie," Lorelai said walking out of the kitchen.

Lorelai walked around the Inn listening for sounds of giggling. As much as Rory loved playing, she always got a case of the giggles while hiding. She started walking down the hallway of the Inn when she heard the faint sound of Rory giggling. Lorelai smiled and tried not to giggle as she knew instantly where Rory was hiding. She walked over to the closet in the hallway and threw the door open.

"Gotcha!" Lorelai called when she saw Rory crouched down on the floor of the closet.

"Aw man," Rory said standing up.

Lorelai laughed, "I can always find you because you giggle when you hide silly girl," she said reaching down to tickle Rory. "Come on let's go find Jess now."

Lorelai and Rory walked through the hallway popping around corners in an attempt to stumble upon Jess' hiding spot. After a few minutes of walking around the Inn, Lorelai and Rory still did not find Jess. They decided to walk back to the front of the Inn and begin their search over again. When they walked to the front desk of the Inn, they found Jess sitting there.

"What are you doing up here?" Rory asked.

"You guys walked right past where I was hiding. You didn't see me so that means I won," Jess said smiling.

"No way, where were you hiding?" Lorelai asked.

Jess smirked, "I can't tell."

"No fair, tell me," Rory said.

"Nope," Jess replied.

"Fine, Jess wins this round, so congratulations," she said smiling over at Jess. "I will count again so you two go hide," Lorelai said as she sat down at the front desk, closed her eyes and began to count silently.

Rory and Jess ran off in the same direction to find a place to hide. Rory was determined to find Jess' secret hiding spot where they did not find him.

* * *

Later that afternoon after several rounds of hide-n-seek, Lorelai decided it was time to take Jess back to the Inn. Mrs. Kim had called during one of their hide-n-seek games to request Rory's presence at her house since Lane wanted to spend time with her. Lorelai and Mrs. Kim worked out an arrangement that Rory would spend the night with Lane and attend church with her the next morning. Lorelai promised to drop Rory off later for their sleepover.

Lorelai pulled up in front of Luke's diner in Mia's car since it was now raining. She had just finished dropping Rory off at Lane's house for their sleepover. She got out of the car and opened the umbrella to cover her and Jess from the rain the few steps it took to get into the diner. Lorelai walked into the diner and led Jess over to the counter. She looked around for Luke but didn't see him anywhere.

"Luke?" she called out.

Luke walked out from the storeroom back into the diner when he heard someone calling his name, "Oh hey Jess, hey Lorelai."

"Hey Luke, I'm here to return Jess to you. He's great but he belongs to you so unfortunately I cannot keep him," Lorelai joked.

Luke cracked a small smile, "Thanks for bringing him back. Did you have a good day Jess?"

Jess nodded his head, "Yeah, Lorelai played hide-n-seek with us."

Luke shot Lorelai an amused look, "Sounds like fun."

Lorelai nodded, "Oh yes, Jess is very good at hide-n-seek. He managed to trick me most of the time when I was the one doing the seeking. He won most of the time; he can pick some great hiding spots. Rory soon figured out his spots but they both kept it from me."

"Where is Rory?" Luke asked.

"I dropped her off at Lane's for a sleepover tonight," Lorelai replied.

"I'm going upstairs to read," Jess said.

"Okay, I'll be up in a few minutes to see what you want for dinner," Luke said as Jess walked up the stairs. Luke turned back to face Lorelai, "Thanks for watching him today."

"No problem," Lorelai replied.

"How was he? Did he act okay for you?" Luke asked.

"He was perfectly fine. He and Rory had a really great time; they are becoming good friends," Lorelai said.

"That's good," Luke said. "Do you want anything?" he asked gesturing behind the counter.

"Oh I actually don't have any money with me right now so I couldn't pay you for anything," Lorelai said.

"Don't worry about it, first time is on the house," Luke replied.

"Really?" Lorelai asked. Luke nodded, "Then I will just take a cup of coffee."

Luke grabbed an oversized mug from under the counter, set it in front of Lorelai and poured coffee into it, "Here."

Lorelai smiled, "Thanks." She said before taking a sip. "Mmm, this is the best coffee Luke. You have a talent, my friend."

Luke blushed slightly, "Thanks, people seem to like it."

"You don't drink it?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head, "I only drink tea, no coffee. It is not good for you."

"You don't drink coffee or eat cookies, what kind of person are you?" Lorelai teased.

"A healthy person," Luke deadpanned.

"Ugh healthy people," Lorelai groaned. "That's okay; we can still be friends even if all you eat is healthy food." Luke smiled back at her. "I should get going now. I need to take Mia's car back to her," Lorelai said standing up from the stool.

"Thanks again for watching Jess today," Luke said as Lorelai began to walk away.

Lorelai turned back around and smiled, "Anytime, bye Luke."

* * *

**Please leave a review. Hope you are still enjoying the story! **

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**Biancaruth: I'm planning on bringing Lane in. Thanks for reviewing.**

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**Nancy: Thank you. I have some plans for Liz that will come to light soon. Thank you for reviewing!**


	5. A Call from Liz

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

* * *

Monday morning, Luke pulled up in front of Stars Hollow Elementary. He grabbed Jess' backpack and climbed out of the truck. When Jess climbed out, Luke helped him to put on his backpack. They were walking towards the school when they were approached by Mrs. Kim and her daughter whom Luke had never met.

"Luke Danes who is this young boy with you? I was not aware that you had a kid," Mrs. Kim said looking up at Luke.

"I don't have a kid. This is my nephew Jess. I'm taking care of him right now," Luke said. "Jess this is Mrs. Kim."

"When did he get to town? He's not trouble is he?" Mrs. Kim asked.

Luke looked down at her with a confused look on his face, "He got into a town about a week ago. He's not trouble."

"Good, we don't need any trouble makers in this town. What grade is he in?"

"Jess is in first grade," Luke replied.

"Me too," Lane said quietly.

"Who is his teacher?" Mrs. Kim asked.

"Mrs. Turner," Luke replied.

"That is Lane's teacher. She does not need any distraction from boys in the classroom. I trust your nephew will not be a distraction," Mrs. Kim said.

Luke suppressed a laugh, "Jess will not be a distraction."

"Good. Come on now Lane, I need to walk you to your class now," Mrs. Kim said taking Lane by the hand and leading her towards the school.

Luke stood there as Mrs. Kim walked towards the school unsure of what to think. He knew Mrs. Kim was strict but the way she was questioning him about Jess was strange. He stood there lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Lorelai and Rory walk up behind him.

"Mrs. Kim scare you or something?" Lorelai asked.

Luke turned around suddenly, "Um yeah she kind of did."

"I figured. I watched the whole exchange. You were very awkward there but Mrs. Kim brings that out in people," Lorelai said. "She still doesn't really like me but still allows Rory to sleep over on occasion."

"Why doesn't she like you?" Luke asked.

"I'm an unwed teenage mother Luke. I hear about it all the time from her. I'm just happy she lets it slide enough for Rory and Lane to be friends. Since she is religious, unwed teenage mothers are not the highest ranking on the Mrs. Kim likeability scale," Lorelai said.

"That's crazy," Luke replied.

Lorelai laughed, "No, that's just Mrs. Kim." Lorelai watched as Rory and Jess ran off towards the school. "Unbelievable," she said shaking her head.

Luke turned towards her, "What?"

"Rory didn't even say bye; she is already ditching me for her friends," Lorelai joked, "Too cool to say bye to mommy already."

Luke laughed, "Well Jess didn't say bye to me either."

"Our kids don't even like us anymore," Lorelai said. "Well I really should get back to the Inn."

"I need to get back to the diner," Luke said.

"Well then goodbye for now. See you later Luke," Lorelai said with a smile before she turned to walk away.

"See you later Lorelai," Luke responded before climbing back into his truck.

* * *

Later that day at recess, Jess and Rory were sitting under their reading tree when Lane walked over.

"Hey Rory," Lane said as she in front of the two.

"Oh hey Lane, this is Jess. He just moved here," Rory said. "Jess this is Lane, she is my best friend."

"Hey Lane," Jess said.

"Yeah, I saw you outside, my mom talked to your uncle," Lane replied as she sat down next to Rory.

"Don't worry, her mom is kind of strict but Lane is cool," Rory said.

"Rory invites me over to watch TV at her house because my mama doesn't let me," Lane said.

"Your mom doesn't let you watch TV?" Jess asked.

"She says it rots your brain," Lane replied.

"Which is crazy, TV is not bad," Rory said. "Now that you met Lane, we can all be friends."

"Okay," Jess agreed.

"Even though my mama says boys are evil and a distraction, we can still be friends. She just doesn't have to find out," Lane said. Rory giggled and Lane joined in.

"Do you always hide things from her?" Jess asked.

Rory spoke up, "Yeah, she comes to my house and my mom lets her do things she can't do at home, as long as her mom doesn't find out."

"That's why we are best friends," Lane said.

Rory smiled, "Exactly."

Lane turned to Jess, "Why don't you play with the other boys?"

Jess shrugged his shoulders, "I don't like the games they play. I don't like playing with cars or anything like that. I like books."

"Jess is different; like us," Rory added.

"Different is good," Jess said with a small smile on his face.

They continued sitting under the tree for the rest of recess. They talked about their similar interests, Lane soon learning that Jess had a lot of interests that she and Rory both had. Jess found out that although Lane liked to read she was not an avid reader like Rory was. Rory and Lane ignored the looks they received for being friends with a boy since at this age most boys played with the boys while the girls played with the girls. Rory and Jess told Lane about the day they spend together with Lorelai and Rory promised that she would invite Lane over soon so they could all play hide-n-seek at the Inn together like they used to do. Once recess was over, the kids headed back inside and continued with the rest of their school day. They soon realized that they would all three become best friends with some time.

* * *

Meanwhile at the diner, Luke was working when the phone rang. He made his way back behind the counter and answered the phone.

"Luke's," he barked into the phone.

"Hey Luke, it's me," the voice said.

Luke stepped into the kitchen with the phone, out of view of any nosy townspeople, "Liz?"

"That's right big brother, how are you?" Liz asked.

"Why are you calling here?" Luke asked.

"Well I did leave my son in your care," Liz replied.

"Are you calling to check in on Jess?" Luke asked. "Is that the only reason you are calling?" He knew that Liz usually only called him when she needed money.

"How is Jess?" Liz asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Luke sighed, "Jess is fine."

"That's all you're going to tell me?" Liz asked.

"What else is there to say? Jess is in school and he is doing well. He is making friends. Well he made one friend so far but they talk to each other all the time," Luke said.

"Oh well, that's great," Liz replied.

"Yeah."

"You know I didn't want to leave him right?" Liz asked. "I'm just not good for him but you are. I wasn't ready to raise a kid."

Luke thought back to Lorelai and her situation with Rory. He thought about the similarities between her situation and the situation Liz was in, "Well you weren't ready but that was your job," Luke said angrily.

"Big brother, I would not make a great mom, not right now. You are what Jess needs. He needs someone stable and I'm not that," Liz said.

"I'm sorry," Luke said pausing. "Where are you anyways?"

"I'm in California," Liz replied.

"California? How did you get out there? What are you doing out there?" Luke asked.

"Jimmy is out here," Liz replied. "We're talking again."

Luke groaned. He never liked Jimmy. He left Liz once before but they worked things out before he ended up leaving her alone with Jess again. "Are you coming back to visit anytime soon? Jess asked about you." Luke said even though he knew it was a lie. Ever since Liz left Jess that day, Jess never asked about his mother. He talked about her but never asked questions.

"I don't know. I'm in California now and I don't know when I can make it back over that way. Listen, I have to go, tell Jess that I love him though and that I want to see him soon," Liz said.

"Okay, I will," Luke said.

"Bye big brother," Liz said.

"Bye Liz," Luke said before hanging up the phone.

Luke sighed and thought about what Liz said. He wondered if he should tell Jess that his mother called. It could do no harm to tell her that she called and wanted to say she loved him but he didn't want to set him up with a false promise that she was coming back to visit anytime soon. Luke looked down at his watch and realized that it was almost time to pick Jess up from school. He told Cesar he was leaving before walking out the diner door and climbing into his truck.

* * *

By the time that he arrived at the school, Lorelai was already there waiting on the bench she usually sat on when she was early to pick up Rory. Lorelai smiled at him as he made his way over to the bench and took a seat beside her.

"Hey Luke," she greeted warmly as Luke sat down.

"Hey," Luke replied gruffly.

"You okay?" Lorelai asked looking over at Luke.

"I'm fine," he replied.

"You don't look fine to me."

"I'm fine."

"Okay but you know that if there is something going on, I could possibly help out right? I'm here if you want to talk," Lorelai said. "We don't know each other that well but I'm a pretty good listener. I can listen to whatever is bothering you. That's what friends do Luke."

"We're friends?" Luke asked.

"Of course we're friends. Remember I was in the diner after dropping Jess off you gave me some amazing coffee and then I said we could still be friends even though you don't drink coffee," Lorelai said.

"Are you only friends with me because of the coffee I gave you?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, "Maybe that's the reason." Luke smiled back. "Are you okay now? Do you want to talk?" Lorelai asked.

Luke sighed, "Well it's just that Liz called today and she was talking about…"

Lorelai held her hand up to interrupt Luke, "One question: who is Liz?"

"Oh Liz is my sister, Jess' mom," Luke said.

"Gotcha, continue with your story," Lorelai said.

"Anyways, Liz called earlier today to check in on Jess. Which is great because I haven't heard anything since she left him but…?" Luke said trailing off.

"But what?" Lorelai asked.

"She asked me to tell him she loved him which I told her I would do. Then she also asked if I would say she wanted to visit soon. I just don't know if I should tell him that. I don't want to tell him and then not hear from Liz and have Jess end up disappointed," Luke said.

Lorelai sat back and thought about what Luke told her for a minute before responding, "Well I can offer some advice if you want it."

"Really? I think I could use some advice."

"I would say you can tell him that she called. You can tell him some things about the call especially that she wanted to know how well he is doing and that she loves him. I wouldn't tell him about her visiting, just leave that out. Speaking from personal experience that is the best thing to do; you do not end up with a disappointed kid on your hands."

"I think you're right," Luke said. "Personal experience?" he questioned thinking back to what she just said.

"I deal with the same thing constantly with Rory's dad," Lorelai said.

Luke opened up his mouth to say something, to ask a question about Rory's dad because he wondered about him but Lorelai never really mentioned anything about him. His thoughts were interrupted when the school bell rang and children began rushing out of the school. He followed Lorelai and stood next to her while they waited for Rory and Jess to exit the building.

Luke saw Jess walking out of school behind Rory and another little girl. He recognized the girl as Mrs. Kim's little girl from earlier that morning. He watched as she ran over to Mrs. Kim and they walked away. Once she was gone, Rory and Jess started talking again. Luke knew this was probably because Mrs. Kim did not want her child talking to boys and Jess was just obeying that rule.

"Hey Jess, hey Rory," Luke said as the kids walked up to him and Lorelai.

"Hey," they said in unison.

"Mom, did you tell Luke about my birthday party?" Rory asked.

"Oh no I didn't; I forgot," Lorelai said before turning to Luke. "You and Jess are invited to Rory's birthday party. The party is 3 weeks from today on a Saturday. It will be held at the Inn. I'm telling you ahead of time, so you can surely find some way to get away from the diner for a few hours and attend the party of a very special girl who will be turning seven."

"I will definitely try to be there," Luke said.

"You have to come," Rory said.

Luke smiled down at Rory, "In that case, I will definitely be there."

"Yay!" Rory said grinning.

Lorelai smiled at the interaction between the two, "Well I will give you more details about the party as it gets closer but right now we need to get back to the Inn; so I will see you tomorrow Luke. Bye Jess, bye Luke."

"Bye Rory," Jess said.

"Bye Jess," Rory replied.

"Bye Lorelai," Luke said waving as the pair walked off in the direction of the Inn.

* * *

Later that night, after getting Cesar to close the diner, Luke made his way upstairs. Jess had already eaten his dinner and taken his bath so he was now reading a little before going to bed. Jess looked up from his book as Luke walked into the apartment.

"It's getting late Jess; I think it's time for bed," Luke said.

Jess sighed, "Okay."

Luke walked him over to his bed and tucked him in. "Your mom called the diner today," Luke said looking down at Jess.

"She did?" Jess questioned.

Luke nodded his head, "Yeah, she wanted to know how you were doing."

"Oh," Jess replied turning to face away from Luke.

"I told her that you were doing great. She also said that she loved you," Luke said.

"Oh," Jess replied again. He stayed quiet for a minute before turning back to face Luke. "Why did she leave then?" he asked.

"She didn't tell you?" Luke asked.

"She told me I was going to stay with you," Jess said.

Luke sighed, "It's a grown-up thing. Your mom had some things to take care of and she needed a place for you to stay. She does love you though. Don't forget that."

"Okay," Jess replied.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked. Jess nodded his head. Luke smiled, "Okay well goodnight Jess."

"Goodnight," Jess replied.

* * *

**So small chapter, just kind of a filler chapter. Next chapter will be better, I promise. Next chapter will be Rory's birthday party; there will be more Luke/Lorelai interaction and more mentions of Chris allowing Luke to learn a little bit more about Rory's dad. This chapter was to just set things up for the next chapter.**

**Thanks for continuing to read/favorite/follow! I appreciate it.**

**_Reviews:_**

**_Scarlet3086: Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Curbsidepuke: Thank you!_**

**_Literatilover13: Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Biancaruth: No problem. I will feature more Lane as all three friends get to know one another. Ahh tiny error that my brain skipped over, haha. Thanks for reviewing!_**

**_Nancy: There will be more interaction between Luke and Lorelai soon. Thank you for reviewing!_**

**_ShadowXMoonlight: Thank you for reviewing!_**


	6. Birthdays bring Surprises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

As the weeks led up to Rory's birthday party, Rory, Jess, and Lane spent more time together. Their recesses and lunch periods were spent talking. They were quickly becoming best friends, all three of them. On weekends when Lorelai was off, she would have Jess and Lane visit with Rory at the Inn so they could all spend more time with one another. Lorelai hid the fact that Jess was playing with Rory and Lane when they would come to the Inn from Mrs. Kim knowing that she would disapprove. One weekend when Lorelai was stuck at the Inn all weekend, Luke was able to take time off from his diner and watch over Jess and Rory. Luke and Lorelai were developing a system in which when one of them had to work weekends, the other one tried to take off to allow the kids to spend their weekend together.

Friday afternoon, Luke was standing in front of the school waiting for Jess to get out of school when Lorelai walked up beside him.

"Hey Luke," Lorelai greeted him with a bright smile.

Luke turned to face her, "Hey Lorelai."

"So are you still coming to Rory's birthday party tomorrow? It is going to be super fun."

"I'm still coming," Luke said. "Jess is excited about coming."

Lorelai smiled, "Great! You'll have fun, trust me."

The school bell rang and Jess and Rory exited the school making their way towards Luke and Lorelai. Lorelai smiled down as Rory came running over towards her.

"It's almost the day of my birthday party," Rory said as she looked up at Lorelai.

"I know! I'm the one planning the whole thing missy," Lorelai replied.

"I tried to bribe Jess into telling me what he got me for a present but he wouldn't say," Rory said as she looked over at Jess.

"That would ruin the surprise!" Jess argued.

Lorelai looked over at Luke who was laughing, "Well I'm with you kid, I would love to know what you are getting for your birthday."

"Well you will just both have to wait until tomorrow," Luke said.

Rory sighed, "I guess but my dad is coming to the party tomorrow," she said excitedly.

Luke noticed how Lorelai's smile fell when Rory mentioned her dad but quickly recovered, "Yeah, that's what he said at least," Lorelai said with a slight edge to her voice.

Luke stepped closer to her, "You okay?" he whispered in her ear.

"I'm fine," Lorelai assured him. "Come on Rory, we need to get back to the Inn. We have lots to do before tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow Jess," Rory said grabbing her mother's hand as they walked off.

Luke watched them walk away for a minute before heading off towards his truck with Jess. As he made his way back to the diner, he thought about how Lorelai reacted when Rory brought up her father. Although he and Lorelai had grown closer since first meeting, she never disclosed any details about Rory's father. Luke never wanted to push her on the issue thinking that she talked about everything else and if she wanted to talk about Rory's dad then she would have by now. He had heard around town that Rory's father was not around much ever since Lorelai decided to run away from Hartford and start over in Stars Hollow.

* * *

The next morning, Luke opened the diner so Cesar would not have too since he was entrusting him with the diner for the afternoon. After the morning rush was over and it was nearing birthday-party time, Luke headed back up to his apartment where Jess was sitting on the couch reading.

"Is it time to go?" Jess asked as Luke walked back into the apartment.

"Almost, are you all ready to go?" Luke asked.

"I'm all ready to go," Jess said standing up from the couch.

"Are you sure?" Luke asked looking down at Jess' bare feet.

"I'm sure, see I have Rory's present," Jess said holding up a small bag.

"I still think you are forgetting something," Luke replied with a smirk.

"What?" Jess asked.

"Your shoes," Luke replied. Jess looked down at his feet and laughed.

"I'll go put those on," Jess said.

Luke nodded his head and walked over to his closet looking for a different shirt to wear. His current flannel shirt was stained with grease from the cooking he did this morning. As he looked for a new shirt to put on, he thought to how much Jess' attitude had changed recently. When he first arrived, he was quiet and didn't talk much which Luke understood because he was moved away from the only home he ever knew. As he got more comfortable in Stars Hollow and made friends in Rory and Lane, he began to open up more and became a happier kid. Liz had not called since the last time and Jess never brought her up. Luke pulled a red flannel from his closet and quickly changed his shirt.

"Is it time to go now?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Luke said as he opened the apartment door for Jess to walk out first. As Jess began to walk down the stairs, Luke walked out of his apartment and shut the door. Once downstairs, Jess headed outside and climbed into the truck. Before getting into the truck, Luke checked to make sure the small bookcase he made for Rory was secure. Even though he had already bought her a present, which Jess had picked out, he decided to make a bookcase since he heard Rory mention that she was running out of space for her books. After getting into the truck, Luke drove off towards the Inn.

* * *

When Luke and Jess arrived at the Inn, Luke decided to leave the bookcase in the back of his truck until later when he would be able to help Lorelai set it up for Rory. Luke walked behind Jess as they walked into the Inn. Luke glanced around but didn't see any signs of a party at the front of the Inn. He did, however, see Mia sitting at the front desk so he made his way over there.

"Hey Mia," Luke said.

"Oh hello Lucas, Jess, I'll show you the way to the party," she said stepping out from behind the desk. She led them to a small room towards the back of the Inn that was decorated from top to bottom with streamers and balloons.

"Jess," Rory yelled when she spotted him standing in the doorway.

"Hey Rory," Jess said walking over to Rory. She grabbed the present from him and put it on the table with all the other presents before walking him over to where a group of kids had gathered.

Luke watched on as Jess began talking to the other kids. He was so focused on Jess that he didn't notice Lorelai walk up beside him.

"He looks like he is adjusting well to Stars Hollow," Lorelai said.

Luke turned around startled at the sound of her voice, "Jeez, you scared me."

Lorelai smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"It's fine. He is adjusting to Stars Hollow well," Luke replied.

"That's great."

"Did you do all the decorating here?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded, "I did most of it, some of the other Inn staff helped out to make sure we had it all done in time."

"It looks great," Luke complimented.

Lorelai smiled, "Thank you."

"No problem. Rory's present is out in my truck," Luke said.

"I thought I saw Jess walk in with a present for her," Lorelai said looking up at Luke.

"He did but I kind of made her something else," Luke admitted.

"Oh Luke," Lorelai said softly. "What did you make her?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing much, it's just a small bookcase, not a big deal at all."

Lorelai put her hand on his arm, "That is a big deal. Can I see it before the party officially starts?" she asked.

"Um sure," Luke said.

"Hold on a second," Lorelai said. She walked over to Mia. "Mia, can you watch the kids for just a second? Luke wants to show me the present he brought for Rory."

Mia smiled, "Of course I can."

"Thanks Mia." Lorelai said. She walked back over to Luke, "Let's go mister."

* * *

Luke and Lorelai walked out of the room and started walking back to the front of the Inn. When they reached the front desk, Lorelai was stopped by Michel.

"Lorelai, you have a phone call," Michel said.

"Who is it?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know, some man," Michel replied.

"Would it kill you to ask for a name?" Lorelai asked looking at Michel. She turned to face Luke, "Just one minute, I should take this," Lorelai said. Luke nodded.

"Hello?" Lorelai asked as she answered the phone.

"Hey Lor," Chris said.

Lorelai turned her back to Luke and Michel, "Christopher," she whispered angrily.

"Listen, I'm not going to be able to make it to Rory's birthday party," Chris said.

"I knew it," Lorelai replied.

"I'm really sorry Lor," Chris said apologizing.

"Oh you're not sorry, at least not in the way you're thinking," Lorelai remarked.

"I really want to be there but something came up," Chris said.

"Something or someone came up?" Lorelai asked. "You know what I don't want to know."

"Just let me explain," Chris said. Lorelai could tell he was getting angry that she was cutting him off.

"There's no need to explain anymore Chris. You do this all the time. You make promises that you consistently break and I'm tired of it. I'm the one that has to deal with a heartbroken little girl each and every time you do this. I told you before to not make any promises that you cannot keep but you went behind my back and promised Rory that you would be here. Now I have to go explain to her why her father is not going to be at her birthday when he promised that he would be just a few days ago."

"I am really sorry about this Lor," Chris apologized again.

"Whatever Chris, I don't have time for this."

"Can I at least talk to Rory?"

"No, you may not. She is busy with her friends right now."

"So you're not even going to let me speak to her?" Chris yelled into the phone.

"No because she is having fun at her party; the one that you will not be attending. You may speak to her later unless something else comes up and prevents you from calling but then again that is your whole routine," Lorelai said raising her voice.

"Lorelai," Chris said.

"Goodbye Chris," Lorelai said before slamming the phone down. She leaned on the desk and placed her head in her hands while mumbling. She looked up to find Luke staring at her with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Sorry about that," she said plastering a smile on her face. "Can we see the bookcase later? I should get back to the party," Lorelai said walking off in the direction of the party.

Luke grabbed her arm preventing her from walking away completely. "Are you okay?" he asked while she was still turned away from him.

Lorelai turned to face him, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure, you don't look fine," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed, "Luke, you really know how to compliment someone," she said sarcastically.

"I didn't mean it like that," Luke replied. "I just meant you look upset about something."

"I know," Lorelai replied. "It's just…I don't…that was Rory's dad on the phone. He was supposed to be here today for the party. He promised Rory a few days ago that he was going to come here this time, he was going to be here but of course he broke that promise. She was just so excited and now I have to go in there and tell her that he's not coming. I hate doing this." Lorelai wiped a few tears from her eyes as she finished her speech.

"I'm sorry Lorelai," Luke said softly.

Lorelai looked up into Luke's eyes, "Is not your fault that Christopher is an ass."

"I'm still sorry you have to deal with all of that though," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled, "Thanks Luke," she said stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Luke pulling him into a hug. Luke tensed at first but soon relaxed and wrapped his arms around Lorelai. Luke pulled back slightly from the hug and looked down into Lorelai's eyes. Lorelai smiled at Luke as he stared at her.

"How long were you two planning on being gone?" Mia asked as she walked up to Luke and Lorelai.

Lorelai jerked away from Luke at the sound of Mia's voice, "Sorry, we were just about to head back. I got distracted by a phone call."

"Chris?" Mia asked. Lorelai nodded. "He's not coming is he?" Mia asked.

Lorelai shook her head, "He's not coming."

"Poor Rory," Mia sighed.

"Yeah, I should head back to the party. Luke, I can see the bookcase later. We can bring Rory out here to see it," Lorelai said.

"Okay," Luke replied.

"You made Rory a bookcase?" Mia asked looking at Luke.

Luke nodded, "Uh yeah I did."

Mia smiled, "Such a good person."

"Yeah," Lorelai agreed smiling at Luke. "Let's go back to the party before the kids completely miss us." Lorelai, Luke and Mia all made their way back into the party room.

* * *

As they walked back into the room, Lorelai departed from Luke and Mia and made her way over to the kids.

"What's going on between you and Lorelai?" Mia asked looking over at Luke.

"What? Nothing is going on. We're friends," Luke responded.

"Just asking," Mia replied before walking out of the room.

Luke saw Lorelai pull Rory away from the rest of the kids and kneel down to talk to her. He saw Rory's expression change from happy to upset in a manner of seconds. Luke watched as Lorelai pulled Rory into a hug and whispered something into her ear, which seemed to cheer her up as a smile stretched across her face. When Rory ran back over to her friends, Luke walked over to Lorelai.

"Rory okay?" he asked.

"She's a little upset but she will be okay," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded, "There's a lot of people here," he said looking around at the crowded room.

Lorelai looked over to where Rory and her friends were playing a game and laughing, "Well she has managed to charm everyone in this town; including you."

"What?" Luke said.

"She's charmed you too Luke, admit it. You built her a bookcase, not just anyone would do that for a kid they met just a few weeks ago." Luke blushed. "It's okay; I won't tell anyone you're not as gruff as you appear."

As the party wore on, Luke kept to himself as Lorelai played various party games with the kids. Eventually, Lorelai managed to drag Luke to the middle of the room in order to participate in games they were planning; some of the games were normal party games while others were ones that Lorelai made up. After playing games, Sookie brought out the cake she made.

"Ooh Rory, look at the cake Sookie made," Lorelai said ushering Rory to where Sookie had placed the cake.

"I love it," Rory said excitedly as she took in the cake. The cake was a stack of three books where Sookie had piped the names on them in frosting. She made sure the titles were all books that Rory read and loved.

"This is a cool cake," Jess said as he stood beside Rory.

After the kids, examined the cake for a few minutes, Lorelai led the party guests into singing Happy Birthday to Rory. Once Rory blew out the candles, Sookie took the cake back into the kitchen in order to cut slices for everyone. While Sookie was busy in the kitchen, Lorelai told Rory she could begin opening her presents. Jess handed Rory his present first which happened to be a few books that Jess mentioned to Rory but she had never read. Rory was thrilled to receive the books. Lorelai whispered to Rory that Luke had another present for her but they would wait until after the party to get it.

Two hours after cake and presents, guests had begun to leave the party. Rory hugged and thanked everyone as they left the Inn. Eventually, Luke and Jess were the only party guests left.

Rory walked over to Luke, "Can I see my other present now?"

"Rory," Lorelai scolded quietly.

"Sorry, may I see my other present now please?" Rory asked looking up at Luke.

"That's the way you ask for presents," Lorelai said smiling.

Luke looked to Lorelai who nodded her approval, "It is out in my truck, I can take you out there though."

"We can all walk out there," Lorelai said. "I can clean up in here when we get back."

With that being said, Luke and Jess led Lorelai and Rory out to Luke's truck. Once they were outside, Luke let down the back of his truck and slid the small bookcase out to place it on the ground.

Rory's eyes widened as she stared at the bookcase. She walked around it, running her hands along the shelves before turning to Luke, "Thank you Luke, I love it!" she said before launching herself at Luke and wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Uhh you're welcome Rory," Luke said as he awkwardly patted her head. Lorelai giggled at how awkward Luke seemed as Rory hugged him. Seeing how much Rory looked up to Luke in that moment, scared her though. Lorelai was not used to any men getting close to her daughter. Especially not men, she had thought about dating. Yes, she had finally admitted to herself that she liked Luke in more than a friendly way but was scared to act upon it, out of concern for Rory and Jess.

"I helped make it," Jess said chiming into the conversation.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Well I helped to paint it, Luke wouldn't let me use a hammer," Jess replied. "He said I would hurt myself," he said while rolling his eyes.

Rory laughed, "I like the color you picked. Purple is my favorite color."

"I knew it!" Jess replied.

"Can we take this to our place now?" Rory asked.

"Sure, lead the way," Luke said picking up the bookcase.

"Need any help there?" Lorelai asked.

"I can carry it," Luke replied.

"Good, because I'm sure I wouldn't be too much help," Lorelai joked as they followed behind Rory as she led them to the potting shed.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the potting shed behind the Inn. Lorelai opened the door before Rory and Jess ran in; Luke followed them in and sat the bookcase down in the space Rory pointed too. Rory and Jess sat down on the bed and started talking. Lorelai and Luke watched them for a few minutes before Lorelai realized she still needed to clean up the mess from the party.

"Come on Rory, I need to head back over to the Inn. I have to clean, I'm sure Luke and Jess need to get back anyways," Lorelai said.

"But I want to play with Jess," Rory replied.

"I know but they Luke has been here all day, I'm sure he needs to get back to the diner. I have to go back to the Inn and you need to walk with me so I can keep an eye on you," Lorelai replied.

"I don't have to get back just yet. Jess can stay and play with Rory if he wants," Luke said. "I can watch them."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked. "I don't want to keep you here."

Luke smiled, "I'm sure, I don't mind at all."

"Thank you Luke, I'll be back in a few minutes. I really just need to get everything picked up but I have people to help so it shouldn't take too long. Rory, listen to Luke," Lorelai said.

"I will," Rory replied.

Lorelai thanked Luke again and then headed out of the potting shed they lived in. She realized Luke was the first person to ever stay inside the potting shed to watch Rory, well besides Sookie who watched Rory when Lorelai had sudden obligations at the Inn. She never trusted anyone as quickly as she trusted Luke with her kid. There was definitely something different about Luke; he was a rare gem among men.

* * *

Back inside the potting shed, Luke watched on as Rory and Jess began organizing the books on her new bookcase. Jess started putting books on the shelf in no particular order.

"No, you cannot do it like that," Rory said.

"Like what?" Jess asked.

"There needs to be an order," Rory replied.

"No, there doesn't," Jess replied.

Rory sighed, "Orders make things neat. My books need to be in order."

"That's silly," Jess said.

"No, it's not. If you don't want to help then don't," Rory said getting angry.

"Fine," Jess said walking to the other side of the room.

After a few minutes of silence and both kids starting at one another, Luke stepped in between them, "Now, you two don't start fighting over something like books. Jess, if Rory likes her books to be in order then you should respect that," he said looking at Jess.

"Okay," Jess replied quietly.

Luke then turned to Rory, "Rory, maybe you should tell Jess what kind of order you like."

"I like alphabetical order," Rory replied.

"Are you two still mad at each other?" Luke asked glancing at both of the kids.

"No," they both said in unison.

"Jinx!" Rory yelled out looking at Jess.

"Aw man," Jess replied. "I was going to say that."

Rory laughed as Jess walked back over to her. They then took all the books that Jess had put on the shelf and began putting them into alphabetical order. Luke sat down on the small couch as he kept an eye on the kids. He glanced around the room and took in the surrounding space that Lorelai and Rory lived in. It was a small space, much like his apartment, but the way he had heard Lorelai talk about it, she did not care how small it was because it was her home; it was her way or proving she could make it on her own.

After the kids organized the books, they sat on the bed to watch TV. When Luke did not hear anymore talking between them, he looked over to see that they had both fallen asleep. He was looking around for a small blanket to cover them with when the door opened. He looked over at the door and saw Lorelai struggling to bring Rory's presents in the potting shed.

"Here, let me help," he said grabbing a few items out of Lorelai's arms.

Lorelai smiled, "Oh thanks. I almost dropped everything a few times while walking over here."

"Where should I put this?" Luke asked.

"Um just drop it over there; I can put this stuff up later. Why is it so quiet in here?" Lorelai asked.

Luke pointed to the bed where Jess and Rory were sleeping, "They fell asleep watching TV."

"Aww look at them, so cute," Lorelai said. "Did Rory give you any trouble? Not that I think she would or anything," Lorelai said as she sat the rest of the presents down.

"No, she didn't. Well they did argue over Rory's books," Luke replied.

"Why did they do that?" Lorelai asked.

"Well Rory wanted to organize them in alphabetical order but Jess didn't know that at first," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed, "That sounds like Rory. Although, I don't know where she got the whole 'wanting to be organized' thing from because it was definitely not from me."

They both stood there quietly for a few minutes before Luke spoke up, "I guess I should get going; give Cesar a break from the diner."

"Oh ok," Lorelai said. She reached out and touched Luke's arm turning him more towards her, "Thank you again for coming today and making Rory that bookcase. She loves it."

"Like I said before, it is not a big deal," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled, "And like I said before, it is a big deal. You took the time out of your day to actually craft something for Rory. No one else does that Luke. My parents would never do something that thoughtful and she is their grand-daughter. Hell, her dad would never do anything like that. He usually just sends a card with a little money or something that Rory would never in a million years want."

"Rory just mentioned something about needing one while she was at the diner with Jess one day. I had some extra wood lying around so I just put it together; it was really no big deal. It did not even take that much time out of my day," Luke replied.

Lorelai shook her head and smiled, "You're so humble. You can admit that you did something great for Rory. I won't mention it to anyone. It can be my little secret. Also sorry you had to listen to that phone call today between Rory's dad and me. That should have been more private."

"It's fine, really," Luke said. "Are you okay though?" he asked quietly.

Lorelai nodded her head, "He does this all the time. I'm used to it. I just hate the fact he continually disappoints Rory. That's not the example of a dad that she needs in her life. I can't do anything about it though. He's her dad. I cannot change that. Sometimes I wish I could though so she doesn't get her heart broken time and time again by him." She quickly wiped a few tears from her eyes, "Sorry for unloading all of that on you again," she giggled.

"It's okay Lorelai. I'm not the best at knowing what to say but if you need to talk then I'm here for you," Luke replied.

"Thanks Luke," Lorelai said; with that Lorelai found herself wrapped in Luke's arms for the second time that day. It was unclear who hugged who first but they stay wrapped in their embrace. Lorelai pulled away slightly, still leaving herself wrapped in Luke's arms. She looked up at Luke and noticed his eyes closing and his head bending down as if he was going to kiss her. She panicked at first but began slowly leaning in towards his lips. When their lips were almost touching, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Lorelai jumped away from Luke and smiled shyly at him before answering the door. She opened the door to find Mia standing on the other side holding a bag that Lorelai had forgotten at the Inn. Lorelai took the bag and thanked Mia before turning around to face Luke.

"Luke, about that…" she started to say but was interrupted by Luke.

"I really should get going now," Luke said as he picked Jess up from the bed.

Lorelai sighed, "Okay," was all she could say.

Luke nodded and walked out the door with Jess still sleeping on his shoulder. He hurried to his truck in an effort to escape the awkward moment he found himself in with Lorelai. If there was no knock at the door, he was going to kiss her. He had every intention to kiss her. He had wanted too since they day he first met her. That moment was gone now though and he was not sure how they were going to move past the fact that they almost kissed. Should he pretend like it never happened? He thought. Or should he wait and see how Lorelai reacts the next time they see one another, which was bound to be at school on Monday. He knew that she wanted to say something before he left but he just had to excuse himself from the moment. When he made it back to the truck, he laid Jess down in the seat and began driving back to the diner, with thoughts of Lorelai and their almost kiss in his mind.

* * *

**So this chapter had more Luke/Lorelai than anything but I am working on establishing things between them.**

**Next chapter: A surprise visitor to Stars Hollow. (Maybe more than one surprise visitor). Tune in to find out.**

**Thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate it! **

**Leave a review if you please, they help give me inspiration to write chapters. Plus, I love to hear your thoughts on where this story is going.**


	7. Plans Interrupted

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**A/N: It's been awhile since I updated, so sorry about that. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Monday afternoon, Luke parked his truck in front of the school and began walking towards the school doors. As he walked up, he noticed Lorelai standing there waiting. He had not seen her this morning when he dropped Jess off which he found a little relieving because he wasn't sure how to act around her since what transpired between them at Rory's birthday party. He walked over and stood silently beside her.

After a few minutes, Lorelai spoke up, "Are you going to stand there and ignore me?" she asked turning to face him.

"What?" Luke stammered out.

"You have been standing there for a few minutes and you haven't said anything to me. I was beginning to feel a little hurt," Lorelai teased. She smiled at Luke. He relaxed when he saw her smile.

"I didn't see you here this morning," Luke replied.

"Oh yeah, I had to drop Rory off a little earlier than usual this morning. Why, did you miss me that much Luke?" Lorelai joked. Luke rolled his eyes which caused Lorelai to laugh.

A silence fell between them before Lorelai opened her mouth to say something, "Luke, about Saturday…"

"What about it?" Luke asked.

Lorelai hesitated, "Something almost happened between us; something that could potentially change things between us; something that was totally unexpected; something that worries me…."

Luke looked at her confused, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that we're friends and what almost happened between us could change that."

"Are you saying you don't want that to change?"

"Do you want that to change?" Lorelai challenged.

The school bell rang out announcing that school was over for the day. The conversation was dropped. Soon after, Jess and Rory came running over to Luke and Lorelai. Luke was grateful for the interruption because he wasn't sure how to answer Lorelai's question. He was never one to admit his feelings openly and Lorelai was blatantly asking him a question that he had thought about ever since Saturday. He had thought about asking Lorelai out on a date but did not want to face rejection if she said no. Plus now he had Jess to think about which made the whole dating thing harder.

"Luke," Lorelai called louder breaking Luke out of his thoughts.

"What?" Luke asked.

"I was just saying bye but you seemed distracted."

"Oh sorry, I was just thinking about something," Luke replied.

"Hmm I thought I smelled smoke," Lorelai teased trying to forget the awkwardness of the earlier conversation. "Well we should get going, bye Luke, bye Jess."

"Bye," Jess replied.

"Bye Lorelai, bye Rory," Luke said.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Jess was perched on a stool at the diner. He had just finished his homework and had Luke looking over it making sure everything was right.

Luke sat the paper back down and looked at Jess, "Everything looks right. I don't know why you have me check everything, it is always right."

Jess shrugged his shoulders, "I like to be sure."

Luke smiled, "That never hurts."

Jess grabbed the paper Luke handed back to him and began to put it back in his folder. As he was sliding the piece of paper into his folder, he remembered the piece of paper that his teacher put in their folder reminding them of their project.

"I have a project," Jess announced.

"Oh yeah?" Luke asked. "What kind of project?"

"On the constellations," Jess replied. He handed over the paper listing the details of the project over to Luke. Luke stopped wiping down the counter and grabbed the paper from Jess. He scrunched up his face as he read over the details. The paper listed the students needed to work in a group of three. They were to pick a few constellations and draw them out on poster board. The project was easy enough and would only take a day or so to complete.

"This says you have to work with partners," Luke said. "Who are you going to work with?"

"Rory and Lane," Jess replied in a duh tone.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Of course. Why did I even ask?"

"I don't know," Jess replied.

Luke laughed, "I guess we need to talk to Rory and Lane then so you guys can start working on the project."

Just then, Luke heard the diner bells jingle. He looked up to see Lorelai standing in the doorway holding onto Rory's hand. She smiled at Luke as they began walking towards the counter.

"Hey Luke," Lorelai said as she approached the counter. Rory let go of her mother's hand and started talking to Jess.

"Hey Lorelai, what's going on?" Luke asked. Lorelai rarely came to the diner unless it was of the days on the weekend where they switched off on who would watch the kids.

"Rory and I were talking on the way home and she informed of a project she had going on. She has to work with a group and of course she chose Jess and Lane. Since we were headed to Doose's just now, I decided we should stop by and talk about when they could get together. Did Jess already tell you about this?" Lorelai asked.

Luke nodded, "He already told me."

"Okay great. Rory already told Mia about the project before we left the Inn so she gave me Tuesday afternoon off in order to help them. I was thinking that maybe instead of you picking Jess up from school, I could just pick all of them up and take them back to the Inn with me where they could work on the project. I already talked to Ms. Kim and she actually agreed to let me pick up Lane as long as I have her back in time so she can do her homework before dinner, so is it okay if I pick up Jess?" Lorelai asked.

"That's fine with me," Luke said. "You don't have to do this all with them, I can help."

Lorelai smiled, "I know, I just figured that since I know Mrs. Kim better and have had Lane at the Inn for a few sleepovers then the Inn might be a better place to work plus she doesn't really know that Jess is working on the project because she doesn't totally approve of Lane talking to boys so this might be the best option."

"Oh ok. She's strict isn't she?" Luke asked.

Lorelai laughed, "You have no idea." An awkward silence fell between them until Luke decided to speak up.

"About what we were talking about at the school earlier," Luke said in a hushed tone.

Lorelai knew that she was the one that brought it up earlier but did not feel like talking about this now, she wasn't sure of what she wanted to say to him or what she wanted him to say to her. "Uh, you know what; we really need to get going now," she stammered out nervously.

"Lorelai," Luke sighed.

"Come on Rory, you will see Jess tomorrow," Lorelai said grabbing Rory's hand and leading her towards the diner door. She turned around and said bye to Luke and Jess before walking out the door.

* * *

Tuesday afternoon after school, Lorelai had all three kids in the potting shed gathered around a small table. The teacher had sent home handouts on different constellations illustrating different ways to draw them. Lorelai had bought poster board and new colored pencils for the kids for their project. She watched over the table as they began to work on their project.

"We can each do one constellation and draw it," Rory said.

"Well which ones are we going to do?" Lane asked.

"We can all just pick one," Jess said.

Rory nodded her head and reached out for a constellation. Lane had the same idea as Rory and ended up grabbing the same paper. Lorelai laughed as they struggled over the paper. She reached forward and grabbed the paper from the both of them.

"Now you two cannot do the same one," Lorelai said. She picked up three different sheets of paper and gave one to each of the kids. "Just draw these so there are no fights about what you are going to do."

"Okay Mom," Rory replied.

Lorelai walked around the small table watching as the kids colored the constellations she gave them. After a few minutes, Lorelai passed out juice boxes and cookies for their snack. As the kids colored, Lorelai moved away from the kids and lay down on the bed. As she lay back on the bed, her thoughts drifted to Luke. She had already told him that if they had kissed, their friendship would change, which was pretty much common knowledge. Like she told Luke the day before she was terrified of that changing, mainly because she didn't date people because of Rory. She was not going to allow someone to get close to her daughter and then have the relationship screwed up. Rory came first. Luke was already close to Rory though, that came with the package of Rory being best friends with Jess. Luke was a nice guy, he was a great guy and even recommended by Mia. She had talked to Mia about Luke when she returned from picking Rory up Monday and Mia offered to watch Rory and Jess if they wanted to go out on a date. Mia assured her on what a great guy was and how she could really see the two of them working out.

Lorelai groaned in frustration at how complicated her feelings for Luke were getting.

"Mom?" Rory said as she stood next to the bed.

Lorelai sat up on the bed and peered down at Rory, "What sweets?"

"We're finished, come see," Rory said grabbing her hand and leading her towards the table.

Lorelai picked up the poster board and examined their drawings they had each written their name next to their drawing distinguishing which one was theirs.

"These are very good you guys," Lorelai complimented. "You are definitely going to get a great grade on this."

"Thank you," all three kids said.

Lorelai looked over at the small clock she kept in the potting shed, "Oh Lane, we really need to get you home. Your mom wants you home before dinner."

"Ugh tofu," Lane said sticking her tongue out of her mouth.

Lorelai laughed, "I know but at least I was able to sneak you some cookies today. Now come on let's go, I'll borrow Mia's car so we don't have to walk."

* * *

Lorelai parked Mia's car in front of Luke's. Rory and Jess climbed out of the back seat and followed Lorelai into the diner. The bells jingled announcing their arrival. Luke walked out of the kitchen upon hearing the bells ring.

"Hey," Luke greeted.

"Hey," Lorelai replied. "I was just bringing Jess home. They are all finished with their project."

"Already?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded her head, "It was an easy project. They ate snacks, colored and were finished within an hour really."

"That's great."

"Yeah it is," Lorelai said. She took a look around the diner and noted that Rory and Jess were seated at a table in the corner talking. The only other occupant in the diner was Kirk, who for some reason was sitting at the same table with Rory and Jess.

"Listen Luke, about yesterday," she said leaning across the counter speaking softly, "you asked me if I wanted our friendship to change and I never gave you an answer. It's just the fact that I don't date. I have a kid, I can't really date, I have Rory to think about. It's not you, really. Mia even suggested that the two of us go out because she would be willing to babysit Jess and Rory."

"Mia suggested that?" Luke asked.

Lorelai grinned, "Yeah she did. Mia's usually right about things," she said before realizing what those words could mean. "I mean, dating is something that I haven't dated since Rory's dad and it's just hard to start when you do have a kid. I can't allow someone into my life in that way because it may hurt Rory if she gets too close to them."

"I'm kind of already close with Rory though," Luke replied.

Lorelai sighed, "I know. That makes it harder because you are Jess' uncle and Jess is Rory's best friend. If we did start dating that may confuse them and then if it didn't work out it would be awkward between us from then on."

"I understand," Luke said.

Lorelai looked up at him, "Really?" Luke nodded. "So this isn't going to make things weird between us now, right? We're still friends?"

Luke smiled, "We're still friends."

"Great."

"Actually I have an idea. What if you and Rory come over Saturday and I make dinner for you two?" Luke asked.

"All that talk about how I don't date and you ask me and my daughter on a date?" Lorelai asked skeptically.

Luke laughed, "Not a date. Friends can cook dinner for one another. Plus Jess and Rory like hanging out. This way you can get away from the Inn for the night, assuming you don't have to work."

"I don't have to work," Lorelai said. She thought about his offer for a moment before responding, "Dinner sounds nice."

"Really?"

"Really," Lorelai replied. "So what time?"

"Is 6 good?" Luke asked.

"6 is perfect."

"Great, anything specific you like?"

"I'll eat anything as long as it's not healthy or many vegetables," Lorelai replied.

"Got it," Luke said with a small smile on his face.

"So dinner, Saturday at 6, sounds great. I should get Rory back to the Inn now, see you later Luke." Lorelai said before walking over to the table where Jess and Rory sat to rescue Rory from Kirk's crazy stories. She waved at Luke as she made her way out of the diner with her daughter.

* * *

As the week passed on, Luke and Lorelai continued to talk as normal while waiting to pick up their respective kids from school; neither one brought up the incident at Rory's party any further. Instead they talked about their plans for Saturday night; both kids had been informed of the dinner and were looking forward to it. Lorelai had tried to figure out what Luke was planning on cooking but Luke would not give any hints.

Friday afternoon, Lorelai was walking through the Inn talking to Mia when Michel stopped her announcing there was someone that needed to see her at the front desk. Lorelai and Mia both made their way to the front desk where they saw none other than Christopher standing there holding a bouquet of roses and a wrapped present. Mia patted Lorelai on the shoulder before walking away giving her time to talk to Christopher.

"Christopher," Lorelai said stepping closer to him. "What are you doing here?" she asked trying to keep her tone light and friendly since they were in a public place.

"Hey Lor," Chris said closing the distance between them and placing a kiss on her cheek. "These are for you," he said handing over the bouquet of roses.

Lorelai placed the flowers down on the front desk, she wasn't particularly fond of roses and Chris knew that, "What are you doing here?"

"What I can drop by to see my girls?" Chris asked.

Lorelai sighed and hesitated before speaking, "You never just drop by Christopher. We haven't seen you in two years. Not since the last time you promised you weren't leaving and you promised that we…." Lorelai said stopping herself before she made herself too upset. She glanced up at the clock, "Damn it, now I'm going to be late picking up Rory. I have to go."

"Wait Lor," Christopher said grabbing her arm before she walked too far away. "I'll go with you."

Lorelai wanted to say no but had no excuse to why he should not go with her, "Fine, you can go."

The walk to the school was quiet. Lorelai spent the time wondering exactly why Christopher was here and how long he was going to stay this time. At least Rory would be happy about his arrival. She had been disappointed when he didn't show up for her birthday so Chris being here today would definitely cheer her up.

* * *

Luke was at the school standing by the front door when the bell rang out. He looked around and noticed that Lorelai still wasn't there. A few minutes later, Jess and Rory came running out of the building talking to one another. They both walked over to Luke. Rory started looking around for Lorelai.

"Where's my mom?" Rory asked looking up at Luke.

"I have not seen her yet," Luke responded. "I'm sure she will be here soon."

"You could come back to the diner with us," Jess said.

"We need to stay here and wait for her mother Jess," Luke replied.

Jess nodded, "Oh ok, but she could still go back to the diner with us if she needs too."

"She's never late," Rory said softly.

Luke could tell she was getting upset so he bent down to talk to her, "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure she just had something at the Inn. If she is not here in a few minutes, we can go back to the diner and call her. I'm sure she will be here soon though."

Rory nodded her head in response.

"Hey, there's your mom now with some guy," Jess said pointing in the direction of Lorelai and Christopher.

Rory and Luke both looked in the direction Jess was pointing. Watching them walk up, Luke felt a small twinge of jealously at seeing Lorelai with some guy; especially a guy who was making her late to pick up her daughter. She had just said she didn't date anyone because of Rory and now she was running late to pick Rory up from school because of a guy. As they drew closer, Rory recognized who the guy walking with her mother was.

"Daddy," Rory called out running over to Lorelai and Christopher. Christopher bent down and picked Rory up hugging her. Lorelai gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and apologized for being late before walking over to Luke.

"So sorry about being late but thank you for watching out for Rory for me," Lorelai said.

"No problem," Luke said. "Jess watched out for her too."

Lorelai smiled down at Jess, "Well thank you too Jess. I'm sure Rory appreciated that."

"I said she could go back to the diner with us," Jess replied.

"That would have been a great offer," Lorelai said laughing, "But then when I got here, I would have missed here; still great thinking though."

Jess smiled, "Thank you."

"So Rory's dad is in town?" Luke asked.

Lorelai nodded her head, "Yeah, he just showed up at the Inn right before I left to get Rory; trust me it was a huge surprise. About tomorrow, I may not be able to make it."

"What about tomorrow?" Christopher asked as she walked up to Luke, Lorelai and Jess. He set Rory back down on the ground.

"Oh nothing," Lorelai said quickly dismissing the issue. She noticed something flash in Luke's eyes; jealousy, sadness, anger, she wasn't quite sure what it was. "Um Luke this is Christopher, Rory's dad, Christopher this is Luke, Jess' Uncle," she said introducing the two.

Chris reached out to shake Luke's hand but Luke kept his hands in his pockets. After that, both men just nodded in greeting to one another.

"Daddy," Rory said grabbing Christopher's hand, "This is my best friend Jess."

"Hi," Jess said shyly.

"Hey," Chris replied. "Is he your boyfriend?" Chris asked teasing Rory.

Rory blushed, "No, we're just friends. Mom used to ask the same thing."

Luke looked at Lorelai in amusement. "What?" she said. "It's fun to tease people."

"Mom, can we go? I want to show Dad what I got for my birthday," Rory said.

"Um yeah, just let me talk you Luke real quick in private," Lorelai replied. She watched as Chris and Rory walked off a little ways and stopped underneath a tree where Chris gave Rory the present he was still holding. "So I don't know how long he is staying so I'm not sure about tomorrow night. I will drop by the diner tomorrow and let you know."

"Okay," Luke replied. "Are you still watching Jess tomorrow?"

"Crap, I forgot it was my weekend with them," Lorelai groaned.

"Don't worry about it; Jess can stay at the diner with me. Rory needs to spend time with her dad," Luke replied.

Lorelai bent down to talk to Jess, "I'm sorry that I have to cancel on you tomorrow but I promise next time, we will have lots of fun together."

Jess smiled and nodded his head, "Okay."

"So you're not mad?" Lorelai asked standing up and looking at Luke; Luke shook his head no. "Are you sure," she said placing her hand on his arm. He told her that he wasn't mad but his expression said otherwise.

Luke looked down at Lorelai and softened his expression, "I'm not mad, you didn't know this was happening. It's fine Lorelai. I'll see you soon."

Lorelai smiled, "Okay Luke. Once again, I'm sorry about being late and having to cancel. I need to get back to the munchkin now though." She waved to Luke as she walked off in the direction of Christopher and Rory.

Luke grabbed Jess' hand and led him back towards the truck. As he drove back to the diner, he thought of his conversation with Lorelai. He wasn't mad that she had to cancel on watching Jess because he knew that she could not control the situation but he was upset by her canceling. He enjoyed the days when she watched Jess because he knew how much Jess loved spending time with both Rory and Lorelai. He also liked that time because Lorelai would always stay and chat in the diner for a little while after dropping Jess off; that gave them time to connect. He couldn't help but feel jealous that she would now be spending that time with Christopher.

* * *

Once they arrived back at the Inn, Rory showed Christopher everything she had gotten for her birthday. Christopher had bought Rory a Barbie doll, that she acted like she loved but Lorelai knew she did not like the present. Rory never really played with dolls but of course Chris did not know that considering he was never around. After going through her new presents and eating dinner, Lorelai, Chris, and Rory were once again in the potting shed.

"How long are you staying?" Rory asked looking at her Dad.

"I was thinking I could stay the whole weekend," Chris said looking over at Lorelai. "If that's okay with your Mom."

"Can he stay?" Rory asked looking at Lorelai. "Please?"

Lorelai sighed; of course Chris would leave the decision up to her. That way if she said no, she would be the bad guy and not Chris. "Of course he can stay sweets. I can see if Mia has a room for you."

"He can stay in here with us!" Rory declared.

"Oh Rory, we don't have the room," Lorelai replied.

"There's the couch," Rory said. "He can sleep there."

"I don't mind taking the couch," Chris said smiling at Lorelai.

"Fine, take the couch," Lorelai said through clenched teeth. "Rory, its bath time."

"Okay, can Dad read me a story tonight?" Rory asked.

"Of course he can," Lorelai replied.

She gathered Rory pajamas and led her to the curtained off area where the bathtub was located. Lorelai started the water for her and poured in the bubble bath that Rory loved. She waited until the tub was almost full with water before leaving Rory to bathe herself. Rory insisted that she was old enough to bathe herself even though she still sometimes requested help in washing her hair. While Rory was bathing, Lorelai joined Chris back on the couch.

"What are you really doing here Chris?" Lorelai asked keeping her voice quiet.

"I told you I just dropped by to see my girls," he said scooting closer to Lorelai.

"Like I said before you don't just drop by. You generally come around a holiday and even then you rarely show up. What's going on?" Lorelai asked.

"I felt bad about missing Rory's party," Christopher said. "I really do feel bad about that Lor. I promised her I would be here and I let her down."

"It's not like you haven't done that before. Why exactly did you miss her birthday party?" Lorelai asked.

"I told you something came up," Chris replied.

Lorelai sighed, "What exactly came up?"

Chris paused and was going to answer until they both noticed Rory was standing next to the couch in her pajamas. "I'm ready for my story," Rory said.

Chris stood up from the couch, "Alright kid, show me which book you want me to read."

Lorelai watched as Rory chose a book from her bookshelf then settled onto the bed with Chris reading to her. Rory cuddled up to her father as he began reading from the book. Lorelai smiled at the two of them together because it almost made them seem like they were a family. This reminded her of last time that he showed up. He promised that he was going to stay in Stars Hollow with them, that they were actually going to be a family. He promised that he would not leave Lorelai or Rory again and that he wanted to try a relationship again with Lorelai. Of course, he broke the promises he made and left town only two weeks after arriving leaving both Lorelai and Rory devastated. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up to see Rory asleep in Christopher's arm. He gently scooted away from her and walked back over to Lorelai.

"She's an amazing kid," Christopher said as he sat down on the couch next to Lorelai.

"Yeah she is," Lorelai replied quietly.

"She has an amazing mother too," Chris said smiling over at Lorelai.

"Don't start with that Chris," Lorelai said.

"Start with what?"

"Don't come in here thinking you can just sweet-talk your way back. You tried that last time and it worked, I let you back in but then you just left with no warning at all. I'm not going through that again," Lorelai said.

"I'm sorry for last time. I couldn't stay here though, I had to get back to work and finish up school," Chris said.

"You never should have promised anything then Chris," Lorelai said. "Exactly how long are you staying?"

"I was going to leave Sunday afternoon because I have to get back to work," Christopher replied. "Why?"

"Nothing, just wondering," Lorelai said making a mental note to talk to Luke tomorrow about having to cancel dinner. "It's late and Rory is probably going to want to get up early tomorrow, so I think I'm going to head to bed. I'll get you some blankets for the couch."

"I'll help," Chris said following Lorelai around the room. She grabbed a few blankets and sheets handing them over to Chris.

"Goodnight Chris," Lorelai said.

Chris pulled her closer and placed a kiss on her cheek, "Goodnight Lor." Lorelai noticed how close they were and looked up at him. Before she knew it, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. After a few seconds, Lorelai began to respond to the kiss. Chris moved his lips away from her lips and began placing soft kisses down her neck.

"No Chris, we can't do this," Lorelai said as she pushed him away.

Chris sighed, "Lor," he wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer.

"Goodnight Chris," Lorelai said pushing herself away from him once again. She walked away from him and climbed in bed next to Rory, turning away from Christopher.

* * *

**So I already have the next chapter written so it will be posted soon if not the same time as this one. Don't hate me for bringing Christopher back and sharing a kiss with Lorelai. I know, that is so not the kiss you want to see but I felt like it had to happen.**

**Reviews:  
Scarlet3086: Christopher is always stupid. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Biancaruth: It won't be too long now. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Literatilover13: Thanks! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Gilmoregroupie: I was hoping she would come across true to character. I'm glad I could make you laugh! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Nancy: Well you were right about the visitor being Chris but I cannot promise and punching going on haha. Thanks for leaving a review!**

**Shadowxmoonlight: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Y-Yukiko-Y: Thank you so much. Thanks for leaving a review!**

**Chloe: It was Chris, you guessed it. Thanks for reviewing!**


	8. Talk to Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**A/N: Hope you enjoy! I threw more Jess/Luke bonding in this chapter since this story is about them.**

**Also Happy New Year! :)**

* * *

The next morning, Luke headed down to the diner early so he could open that morning. Yesterday after picking up Jess from school, he worked it out with Cesar so he would open the diner that morning and Cesar would take over in the afternoon allowing him to spend time with Jess since Lorelai was not able to watch him that day.

After the early morning rush was over and the diner was in a lull until the later morning rush, Luke headed back up to the apartment to check on Jess. When he got upstairs, he noticed that Jess was just waking up.

"Good morning Jess," Luke said as a still sleepy Jess climbed out of bed.

"Hey," Jess replied.

"Are you ready for some breakfast?" Luke asked. Jess nodded his head. "Okay, well hurry up and get dressed then head down to the diner and I will make you whatever you want."

Jess smiled, "Even if I want chocolate chip pancakes?"

Luke knew that Jess was a little upset about not being able to spend time with Rory and Lorelai today so he was willing to give him chocolate chip pancakes, "As long as you eat whatever fruit I give you and drink orange juice for breakfast."

"Deal," Jess said heading into the small space Luke had arrange in his apartment for Jess. After a few minutes, Jess came out fully dressed. Luke led him out of the apartment and back down into the diner.

Once they were back in the diner, Jess climbed up on a stool with his book while Luke headed into the kitchen to prepare his breakfast. Jess sat there reading until Luke walked back out of the kitchen with a small bowl of mixed fruit and a glass of orange juice.

"Now eat that and then I will bring your pancakes out," Luke said.

"Okay Uncle Luke," Jess replied. Luke smiled and walked back into the kitchen. Jess placed his book down and began eating his fruit. He didn't care when Luke made him eat his fruit because he actually liked eating the fruit. He knew it was healthy for him so he rarely put up an argument when Luke gave him fruit.

Once Jess finished with his fruit, Luke cleared the bowl and placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of him. Luke walked away from the counter and started serving the other customers while Jess ate his pancakes. After making sure the other customers had their breakfast, Luke walked back over to Jess.

"Change of plans for today," Luke said.

"I know, I'm not going over to the Inn today," Jess said.

"Yeah but I thought that if you wanted too, I could take you to the park if you wanted to go. That way you will not be cooped up inside the diner all day," Luke replied.

"Okay," Jess said.

"Okay as in you want to go to the park?" Luke asked.

Jess nodded, "Sure. I can bring my book."

Luke smiled, "The whole point of me taking you to a park is to play Jess. I know you don't really play sports or you never have but I was thinking that we could play a game of catch or something like that."

"Maybe," Jess said continuing to eat his pancakes.

"Maybe," Luke replied before walking off to deal with some new customers.

* * *

Back at the Inn, Lorelai was still asleep when she felt someone jumping on the bed. She opened slightly to see Rory jumping up and down on the bed.

"Wake up Mom," Rory said. "Come on, come on wake up."

"Rory," Lorelai groaned. "It's too early." She had stayed up late after the kiss she shared with Christopher. She knew it was wrong to kiss him but was wrapped up in the moment. She was determined to not let it happen again.

"Nuh-uh it's eight o'clock. Dad's already up, now you get up so we can go somewhere," Rory replied.

Lorelai threw her arm over her head, "You usually sleep until at least nine on Saturdays missy."

"Yeah but Dad is here and he said we could go to the park but that means you need to get up!" Rory said.

"Yeah, come on Lor. Rory said she wanted to go to the park so I told her we would go but we can't go without you," Chris said.

"Ugh fine but it will still be a little while, I need to shower and everything and we need breakfast," Lorelai said.

"But we ate all the pop-tarts yesterday, we were supposed to buy some more yesterday," Rory said.

"Crap. Well we can go over to the Inn and eat like we do before school," Lorelai said.

"Or I can cook," Chris said. There was a small stove in the potting shed that never got used for anything besides warming up a few things for dinner every now and then. "I can cook a few breakfast foods now."

"Yeah but I don't cook there is nothing to cook in here," Lorelai replied.

"I can go to the store, I passed by it on my way here," Chris said.

"Can I go too?" Rory asked.

Lorelai sighed, "Oh no Rory, you are staying here with me."

"That's not fair," Rory said.

"Well life's not fair," Lorelai replied. "Plus your dad has his motorcycle here and there is no way I'm letting you on that thing."

"Fine," Rory said sitting down on the bed.

"Your mom's right kid but I'll bring you some candy back from the store, okay?" Chris said.

"Okay," Rory replied. Chris grabbed his jacket and headed out the front door. Once he was gone, Lorelai climbed out of bed.

"I was not trying to make you mad but motorcycles are dangerous and I do not want you riding on one, you are just too precious to get hurt," Lorelai said hugging Rory.

Rory smiled, "Okay mom."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Lorelai asked.

"Never," Rory said.

Lorelai laughed, "Okay just remember to never get mad at mommy when you are a teenager."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"No reason sweets. I'm going to take a shower so you just sit here and wait for your dad to get back, okay?" Lorelai said kissing her daughter on the cheek.

"Got it," Rory said settling back underneath the covers and turning on the TV. Lorelai grabbed her clothes for the day and headed towards the shower.

* * *

Later that day, after Cesar came in to take over, Luke headed over to the park with Jess. He gave Jess his old baseball glove from when he was a kid because he wanted to teach him to throw a baseball that day since they were going to spend the day together. Luke had also grabbed his baseball glove that he used in the annual Stars Hollow baseball game, the only town event that he willingly took part in.

Luke parked his truck and climbed out. He grabbed his glove and baseball from the middle seat in his truck while Jess climbed out the other side. Jess carried his glove in one hand and his book in the other one. On the way to the park, Luke had told Jess that he could read for a little while but that he also wanted to show him how to throw a baseball so they could play a little catch together. Luke was really getting used to having Jess around and loved the fact that he was able to teach him things.

Luke and Jess walked over to a clearing in the park. "I think this will be a good spot," Luke said. "We can face this way so the sun will not be directly in our eyes."

"Can I read first?" Jess asked.

"Let's do this first, that way you can rest while reading," Luke said.

Jess sighed, "Okay."

"Look, you may think that you don't like baseball but just give it a try, for me please," Luke said.

"I can do that," Jess replied.

Luke knelt down and faced Jess. He grabbed the glove from Jess and helped him slide it on his hand, "Now does that feel too tight or anything?"

Jess shook his head, "No, it doesn't."

"Great, this is mine from when I was around your age so I thought it would fit. Now," Luke said putting his baseball glove on, "This is the way that you are going to want to hold it when you want to catch the baseball," he said demonstrating the move for Jess. "You want to close the glove around the ball to make sure it doesn't fall out. Got it?"

"I think so," Jess said.

Luke nodded, "Okay, let's try. Now for this, I'm just going to stand here and throw it. That way I'm not throwing it a long distance so it should be easier to catch."

Luke moved a little ways back from Jess and softly threw the ball. Jess moved to catch the ball but it ended up falling on the ground. "That's okay," Luke said. "Just throw it back to me."

Jess threw the ball back but it landed at Luke's feet. "Sorry about that," Jess said.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get better. That was not a bad throw just put more power behind it next time," Luke said. "Now, I'm going to throw it back to you so watch out."

Luke threw the ball lightly again and this time Jess caught it in his glove but it rolled out onto the ground. "I caught it that time," Jess said with a small smile on his face.

Luke smiled, "You did but just remember, close the glove around the ball so it stays in the glove."

Jess nodded his head, "Okay Uncle Luke."

"Now throw it back," Luke replied.

Jess threw the ball back and Luke caught it, "You have got a pretty good arm kid. You must take after me," Luke said.

Luke and Jess continued throwing the ball and catching it, gradually increasing the space in between them once Luke felt confident enough in how Jess was catching the ball. Jess was reluctant at first to play catch but the longer the played, the more he liked it. That surprised Luke since Jess never showed interest in sports before although Liz probably never played any type of sport with him.

* * *

After getting ready for the day and eating breakfast, Lorelai, Chris, and Rory headed out the door towards the park. They decided to walk considering Lorelai still did not have a car and Chris only had his motorcycle. When they got to the park, Rory made her way over to the swings pulling Christopher with her so he could push her even though she knew how to swing by herself. Lorelai decided to let them have their time together so she made her way over to the bench and sat down.

Lorelai watched as Chris pushed Rory on the swing and had the same feeling she had last night watching them. She would have liked for them to try and be a family but knew it would never happen. Especially now that she was having feelings for Luke or at least she thought she was. After she kissed Christopher last night before bed she felt terrible for a few different reasons. One because she knew that Christopher was leaving in a few days and if she even tried to start anything with him it would end badly once he left. She also felt bad because of Luke. After almost kissing him at Rory's party, she almost felt like she was cheating on him or something which was ridiculous considering they had both agreed to be just friends, for now at least. The kiss definitely pushed new feelings for Luke to the surface. It made her realize that she did really like Luke.

Lorelai turned her attention away from Christopher and Rory for a moment and focused on two figures throwing a baseball back and forth. After a few seconds she recognized the pair to be Luke and Jess. She saw Jess say something to Luke and Luke walk over and take the glove from him. Jess then walked over to a tree and sat down opening up his book. Luke gathered the two gloves in his hands and began to walk towards the benches.

"Hey Luke," Lorelai called out to get his attention.

Luke looked up, "Oh hey Lorelai."

"Come sit," she said patting the empty space next to her. "Rory and her dad are playing on the swings so I'm just sitting here watching them."

Luke sat down next to her, "Jess and I were just playing catch."

"Yeah, I noticed. I was watching you guys too," Lorelai replied.

"Seems like I have a stalker then," Luke joked.

Lorelai smiled, "Shut up. I was not stalking you."

"Whatever," Luke replied.

Lorelai playfully hit his shoulder, "I wasn't. You just happened to be in my line of vision."

"How long have you been stalking me for?" Luke teased.

"Let's see, ever since the first day I met you. Instead of actually watching Jess at the Inn with Mia, I was following you around town. I just had to stalk you," Lorelai replied now going along with the joke.

"Ever since the first day? I must have made a great first impression," Luke replied.

Lorelai laughed, "Oh yes you did."

Luke smiled then cleared his throat. "So how long is Rory's Dad staying for?"

"He is leaving tomorrow afternoon," Lorelai said.

"So no to dinner tonight?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I can't make it. I'm sorry, I was really looking forward to it," Lorelai said.

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "It's fine; maybe we can do it another time though?"

"Definitely, I would like that."

"How are things with Rory's dad?"

Lorelai turned to look at Luke, "What do you mean?"

"How is it having him back in town?" Luke asked.

Lorelai sighed, "He hasn't been to visit in two years. Rory loves having him here because she hasn't seen him in a while. She talks to him on the phone but that's not the same, you know?"

"I know. How do you like having him back?" Luke asked unsure of if the question was too personal for Lorelai.

"I don't know," she said remembering the kiss from last night. "He should be here to see Rory, not me. I feel like when he does visit though, it is to see me and not to see his daughter. Every time he comes to town, he says he wants to work things out between us but it never works. I'm done trying with all of that."

Luke felt a sense of relief, "So you don't want to be with him?" he asked. "Or is that too personal?"

"It's not, we're friends. I feel like I can talk to you about this. The whole family thing would be nice but Chris is still too immature to ever work in a family. His visits and phone calls are sporadic; I mean you heard how that one phone call went between us, that's how most of our conversations end up. He knows nothing about his daughter. He bought her a Barbie doll for her birthday!" Lorelai said.

Luke laughed, "A Barbie doll? That's not Rory."

"Exactly! See you know more about Rory than her own father does. You were the one that built her a bookshelf. I mean that was the perfect gift and you have only known Rory a few weeks," Lorelai said.

Luke blushed slightly, "She mentioned something about a bookshelf and I had the materials, so…"

"She loves it," Lorelai said.

"I'm glad," Luke said smiling at Lorelai. They sat there staring at one another until Chris walked up and distracted them.

"Hey," Chris said sitting down on the other side of Lorelai.

"Where's Rory?" Lorelai asked.

"She found a friend," Chris said pointing towards Rory and Jess. He slid his arm around Lorelai and she shifted uncomfortably. Luke noticed how uncomfortable she looked around Christopher.

"She found Jess, of course," Lorelai said.

"Jess actually ditched reading to play with Rory," Luke said.

"Well they are best friends of course he would," Lorelai replied.

"So how long have they been friends?" Chris asked trying to join the conversation.

"Ever since Jess moved here so a few weeks," Lorelai replied.

"That became friends that fast?" Chris asked.

Lorelai shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, they bonded over books; the one thing that Rory loves most in the world. Books are the one thing she always asks for her."

Luke stifled a laugh at Lorelai's subtle dig at Christopher for buying Rory a Barbie doll. Lorelai elbowed him in the side when she heard him trying not to laugh. The conversation quickly died down. Lorelai tried to start conversations with both guys but neither one had much to say. After an hour, Lorelai's stomach started rumbling.

"I think it is definitely lunch time. I should get Rory back to the Inn," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, Jess is probably hungry now too and I need to check on the diner," Luke said. "I'll see you later Lorelai."

"Bye Luke," Lorelai said as Luke walked off to collect Jess. She waved Rory over to the bench where she still sat. Once Rory was standing in front of the bench, Lorelai stood up. "Come on kid, we need to get back to the Inn for lunch. I'm starrrrvvviiing."

"Me too, I'm starrrrvvviiing," Rory said copying her mother.

"Well we better go eat something before we perish!" Lorelai said dramatically. "Come on Chris, let's go."

* * *

After lunch at the Inn, Lorelai, Chris, and Rory headed back to the potting shed. Rory climbed onto the bed reading a book while Lorelai and Chris sat down on the couch.

"About last night," Chris whispered.

"What happened last night is not going to happen again. We should not have kissed," she whispered making sure Rory did not hear her. "I wasn't thinking last night. We are not going back down that road."

"Is it because of Luke?" Chris asked.

"What?" Lorelai blushed. "Why would you even suggest that?" she stuttered out.

"You two seemed awfully cozy on that bench earlier. I watched the way you two act with one another," Chris replied.

"Luke and I are just friends. His nephew and my daughter are friends so we are friends as well," Lorelai replied.

"How long have you been sleeping with him then?" Chris asked. Rory's head popped up letting her parents know she heard part of their conversation.

"Go outside Christopher," Lorelai growled out before turning to Rory. "Your dad and I need to talk outside so just stay in here reading your book sweets."

Rory nodded, "Okay."

"We won't be too long," Lorelai said as she shut the door. "What in the hell is your problem?" she snapped at Chris once she was outside.

"I'm just saying you two seemed like more than friends to me," Chris replied.

"God Christopher, just because I'm friends with another guy does not mean I'm sleeping with him. Luke and I are friends, we are not sleeping together." Lorelai replied. "We became friends because I watch Jess for him when he's busy and he watches Rory for me when I'm busy."

Chris scoffed, "You let that guy watch our kid?"

"Yes, I let Luke watch my kid," she said emphasizing the word my, "because he offers to watch her so Rory can spend time with Jess and not be stuck following me around at the Inn all day."

"She's my daughter too," Chris replied.

"Well come around more than once every two years, make phone calls more than once every month, if we even hear from you then. Hell, Rory has almost spent more time with Luke than she has ever spent with you."

"I don't like Rory spending so much time with Luke."

"You're not the one making every decision in Rory's life; you cannot just come back into town whenever you want telling me how to raise her. I know what's best for Rory and her spending time with Luke and Jess is completely fine by me."

"You're not going to even let me have a say in what goes on in my daughter's life?" Chris asked. "I think I should know what's going on with my daughter."

"Then pick up a phone and call, visit when you say you are going to, stop letting her down every chance you get, send her a letter, or a card, just do something to show her that you actually think about her. Do something to show me that you want to be involved and that the reasons for your trips to Stars Hollow are to see your daughter and not to try to be with me again," Lorelai said pacing around in front of Christopher.

Christopher stood silently as Lorelai finished her rant. As she finished, she stopped in front of Christopher.

"That's the only reason you came back right? Is too try and what be my boyfriend again?" Lorelai asked.

"I want to make it work between us Lor," Chris said grabbing her hand.

Lorelai snatched her hand away from him, "There's no way that anything is happening between us again. You are insane to think that anything would work between us. You just basically admitted that you don't come to town to visit your daughter, you come to visit me. That's messed up Christopher. Tell me the real reason you missed Rory's party."

"The real reason?" Chris asked.

Lorelai nodded, "The real reason, no matter how terrible it is. I want the truth, for once."

"There was this girl and we had a date…" Chris started.

Lorelai interrupted, "I figured. Disappoint your daughter because you had a date. Real mature Christopher."

"But it didn't work out with that girl," Chris said.

Lorelai scoffed, "So you came back here to be with me? You're so screwed up."

Chris stayed quiet for a few minutes before speaking up, "I have to go," he said walking away from Lorelai.

"What? Are you leaving? Is this because we are not working things out? That's messed up; it really is. You should come to visit your daughter. That should be your reason for coming to Stars Hollow but it's not."

"I did come to visit Rory," Chris replied.

"Yeah but you had an ulterior motive the entire time, just admit it Christopher," Lorelai said quietly.

"Fine, I did want to work things out between us," Chris said. "I also wanted to see Rory."

"I told you over the phone after the last time that you left that nothing would happen between us again. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not that girl that is going to continue running back to you," Lorelai said. "Now if you want to stay and visit with Rory some more, you are welcome too. You can leave tomorrow like you told me you would."

"I really should just go now," Chris replied.

Lorelai sighed, "Please just stay for Rory."

"I have to go," Chris said walking away.

Lorelai sniffled, "Then you walk back through that door and explain to Rory why you are leaving. You have to pick up your stuff anyways. You can make whatever excuse you want too; I'll leave that job up to you this time. You are not leaving without saying goodbye to your daughter."

Lorelai stared at Chris until he headed back into the potting shed. She stood outside the door and tried to listen to Christopher explaining to Rory why he was leaving. She heard Rory ask him to stay one more night with her and tried to hold back her tears. A few minutes later, Christopher walked back out the door and said goodbye to Lorelai. Lorelai wiped at her tears before heading back inside.

Rory was lying down on the bed and Lorelai could tell she was upset over Christopher leaving. Lorelai sat down on the bed and gathered Rory in her arms. Rory wrapped her arms around her mother. Lorelai stroked Rory's hair softly.

"He said he had to leave to go back to work," Rory said quietly.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that's what he told me. Just so you know, this has nothing to do with you. Your dad just had to leave, he loves you very much."

"Then why didn't he stay? He promised," Rory whispered.

"I know he promised. Just know that I will never ever leave you, okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Okay," Rory replied.

Lorelai kissed her daughter's head, "Hey, we are going to need to find something for dinner tonight so how about we go to the diner?"

"We never go out though," Rory said.

"Well this is a special occasion, we can afford to go there this one time, plus we can see Jess if we go," Lorelai replied.

Rory smiled, "Okay, we can go."

Lorelai smiled, "Alright, get your jacket on and we will go."

* * *

Luke was at the counter talking to Jess when he heard the bells above the diner door jingle. He didn't bother looking up this time considering he knew that Lorelai and Rory were not coming in today. He did look up however when he heard Miss Patty call Lorelai's name.

"Lorelai dear, it's so great to see you," Miss Patty said as Lorelai walked by their table.

"Yeah sugah, we hardly ever see you out in town," Babette said.

Lorelai smiled, "Well Rory and I decided to finally try out the diner today. Plus Rory here wanted to come see her best friend."

"Oh I see," Miss Patty said. "She and Jess are good friends aren't they?"

Lorelai nodded, "Best friends."

"What about you and Luke?" Babette asked. "I saw the way you two acted at Rory's party last weekend."

Miss Patty smiled, "Yeah is there something going on there that we should know about?"

Lorelai blushed slightly, "Luke and I are friends. You know what ladies, I'm hungry so I should go order something," she said trying to get away from the gossips.

Lorelai walked up to the counter still holding onto Rory's hand. She lifted her up the stool next to Jess and they started talking.

"Hey," Lorelai said to Luke as she sat down. "Offer for dinner still stand?" she asked grabbing a menu and looking it over.

"Um well when you said you weren't coming, I didn't prepare anything for dinner," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled, "You don't have to prepare anything special; I'm fine eating whatever. I'll just order something."

Luke leaned down on the counter, "Is everything okay? I thought you couldn't come by tonight."

Lorelai looked up at Luke, "Christopher left," she admitted quietly.

"Is Rory okay?" Luke asked.

"She's upset, of course but I promised to bring her by and see Jess so she's fine now," Lorelai replied.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lorelai said now avoiding his gaze.

"Lorelai," Luke said. "You can talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about it right now. You have the diner to run; you have other customers to tend too. We can talk later. Bring me a cheeseburger and fries please, same thing for Rory. Oh and coffee for me and soda for Rory," Lorelai replied.

"That stuff will kill you," Luke said after putting in their order with Cesar. He also put in an order for Jess.

Lorelai smiled, "Oh well. Just bring me some coffee, please."

Luke poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of Lorelai, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Lorelai sighed, "I said that I did not want to talk about this right now Luke. I'll talk to you about it later, okay?"

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were fine," Luke said.

"I know you did," Lorelai replied softly.

After a few minutes, Luke delivered their food. Since the dinner was in a lull, Luke sat down next to Lorelai and ate his dinner. They kept the conversation light talking mainly about Rory and Jess. Lorelai talked a little about the Inn while Luke did the same thing with the diner. After dinner, Lorelai ordered pie for her and Rory which Luke ranted about making Lorelai smile.

"So how much do I owe you for dinner tonight?" Lorelai asked reaching into her purse.

Luke waved her off, "Don't worry about it."

"Luke, I have to pay you for dinner," Lorelai replied.

"First time is on the house," Luke said.

"This is not my first time ordering something from here though," Lorelai replied.

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "First time you came by for dinner, so don't worry about paying me."

Lorelai smiled, "That's no way to run a business Mister but I like the idea of free food so I'm not complaining."

Luke laughed, "Only free this one time."

"Sure, sure, I'll get you to change your mind. Thanks again Luke," Lorelai said placing her hand over his.

Luke looked down at her hand resting on his, "No problem Lorelai and if you do want to talk about what happened with Chris, you know where to find me."

"I know," Lorelai smiled, "Maybe we can talk another time? I have Monday afternoon off, some big event at the Inn that I don't need to be there for so maybe I can drop by then?"

"Sounds good to me," Luke replied.

Lorelai nodded, "Okay, see you then Luke. Rory and I are most likely going to have a movie night so we should get back to the Inn."

"Okay, bye Lorelai," Luke said.

Lorelai told Rory they were leaving and walked her to the diner door, "Bye Luke," she said before leaving and heading back towards the Inn.

* * *

**So two chapters in two days, that's me trying to make up for lack of updates; next chapter should feature a talk between Luke and Lorelai and maybe finally them getting a little bit closer. I can't make any promises though.**

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**Chloe: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Scarlet3086: Thanks for agreeing and for reviewing!**

**Nancy: Lorelai was always too nice to him on the show after everything he did; although I do understand why she was no nice to him. Of course Mia knows he is a good thing, this is Mia after all haha. Thank you for reviewing! Happy New Year to you too!**


	9. Talks, Surprises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**I have begun a re-watch of Gilmore Girls recently and I am just a little into the second season but I think I have the theme song permanently stuck in my head. I walk around singing or humming to it all day. **

* * *

Monday afternoon Lorelai left the Inn and headed towards Luke's. Mia was helping with an event at the Inn and told Lorelai she could have the afternoon off so she would not be in the way. Lorelai usually helped Mia out with events but Mia let her off for this one.

"Hey Luke," Lorelai said making her way into the diner and sitting down at the counter.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.

"Luke, you are going to drive away a lot of your business if you ask why people come to your diner," Lorelai said. "Remember I told you there was that event at the Inn and I was not to be there for it so I'm here until Rory gets out of school."

Luke nodded, "Coffee?"

"You bet," Lorelai said with a smile.

Luke poured her a cup of coffee, "So how's Rory doing?"

Lorelai sighed, "She is still a little upset about him leaving but she's doing better. Mia cheered her up by taking her away from the Inn yesterday. They spent most of the day at the library."

"And are you okay?" Luke asked.

"I'm okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Are you sure you actually want to listen to me talk? Or complain about him?"

"You helped me out, I can help you out."

Lorelai smiled, "Well if you do want to listen to me complain about Christopher then I am ready for that."

"Want to go upstairs?" Luke asked.

"Well Luke what are you planning on taking me upstairs?" Lorelai asked grinning.

"Jeez Lorelai, I didn't mean it like that. I meant to talk so there's privacy."

"What about the diner?" Lorelai asked.

"Well right now is currently the afternoon lull so we will be fine upstairs. Cesar can handle it if anyone comes in," Luke replied.

"Okay," Lorelai said standing up from the stool. "Just up the stairs?"

"Yeah, go ahead and go up. Let me just tell Cesar I'm going upstairs."

* * *

Lorelai nodded and headed up the stairs to Luke's apartment. She opened the door and observed the space around her. The space wasn't clean but not overly dirty. There were books and toys lying around the apartment that she knew were Jess' and dishes were still piled up in the sink.

"Sorry about the mess," Luke apologized as he walked into the apartment.

"Luke it's fine, you're a young guy with a kid, it is bound to be messy. You have seen my place, it's always messy," Lorelai replied.

"We can just sit over here," Luke said guiding her towards the couch. They both sat down.

"So…" Luke said.

"So…" Lorelai laughed. "Are you really okay with listening to me? You're not just doing this because you feel like you have too?"

"No Lorelai. You seem upset over this and I just want to be here for you."

"Thanks Luke."

"No problem. So why did he leave just after he arrived?" Luke asked.

"That's what he does. Christopher comes to town then leaves. It is the same pattern he was always done. This was the first time that he came to visit in two years actually," Lorelai replied.

"How does a dad go two years without seeing his daughter?" Luke asked. He couldn't imagine having a kid and never being there for them.

Lorelai nodded, "I don't know that is just Chris. It's terrible but he's her dad, you know? I can't keep him from her even though I really want too. He calls and writes every so often but still that's not anything really."

"Rory deserves better than that though," Luke said.

"She does and that's the terrible thing about it. Rory should not have to deal with a dad that is constantly in and out of her life but she does. If Rory didn't love when he came to visit then I would happily keep him away but she looks forward to his visits so much that I cannot tell him to stay away. If I did then he would drag his parents into this and then my parents would be drug into this and that creates so many more problems that it is just easier to let him come to Stars Hollow every so often," Lorelai said.

"Your parents? You never talked about them," Luke said.

"And we are not talking about them now. That's something else then this situation entirely. Bottom line, my parents and I do not get along. We never really have," Lorelai said.

"Okay, okay," Luke said. "So why did Christopher leave?"

"He is just immature and this was an impromptu visit. He left because he came here for two reasons supposedly and one of those reasons did not work out."

"What reasons?" Luke asked.

"One being that he wanted to see Rory since he missed her birthday party, which by the way he only missed because he had a date with some girl. He chose some random girl over coming to his daughter's birthday party," Lorelai said slightly raising her voice. "I mean he can do whatever he wants, see whomever he wants to see but it should not interfere with his daughter especially when he promised her that he would be there at her party."

"That's screwed up," Luke said.

"Yeah and that's Christopher. He puts almost everything above Rory. I was the one that encouraged him to go to school and live his life knowing that I would be taking care of Rory. I just did not think that he would never be there for her. He promised me that he would visit regularly and call regularly but he does neither." Lorelai wiped a few tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Luke said really unsure of what to say at this point.

"I'm not complaining about taking care of Rory or anything, I don't want you to think that. It's just I hate that he is not in her life more."

"I know. I would never think that you were complaining about Rory. I don't think that you could ever do that," Luke said.

"Nah she is too great of a kid to complain about. I have no idea how she got that way. She acts nothing like I did when I was a kid."

Luke smiled, "She is pretty great. What was the other reason that he left?"

"Oh yeah; well him coming to see Rory was the main reason or so he said but there was a reason underneath all that and that reason was me," Lorelai said. "Gosh that sounded so conceited."

"So he came here for you?" Luke asked.

"He said that. Last time he came to town, he promised he was going to stick around and that we were going to be a family. We did get back together at that time but it ended almost as soon as it began. I thought we were together but I woke up one morning and he was gone. No note or anything explaining why he was leaving. A phone call came a little while later from him and I told him that we were never going to work things out. He thought that by coming here again and bringing flowers and a present for Rory that he could sweep me off my feet and we could be together again."

"Wait, didn't you say that he missed Rory's party because of a girl?" Luke asked.

"Oh yeah that did happen. He broke up with her and came back here expecting that I would be waiting on him and ready to pounce back into bed with him, I guess," Lorelai said. "Am I that easy or something that he can come back to town and expect me to sleep with him?"

"Well I have known you a few weeks and have not managed to get you in bed," Luke said.

"Luke!" Lorelai scolded.

Luke took in her expression, "Sorry, sorry, I was trying to make a joke."

"Well that was a terrible joke," Lorelai said. After a few seconds she began to chuckle. "It was a really terrible joke."

"I'm not good at jokes," Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled, "Clearly."

"But it made you laugh right?"

"Well after you explained it was a joke then yeah I laughed. I was beginning to seriously question your motives here."

"I have no hidden motives," Luke said. "I just wanted to help you out."

"Thank you," Lorelai said softly.

"Anytime," Luke replied. "Anything else you want to say?"

"Ugh I don't even feel like talking about Christopher anymore. I don't even want to deal with him," Lorelai said. She leaned back into the couch making herself more comfortable.

"Okay," Luke muttered before leaning back on the couch as well.

"So how are things with your sister?" Lorelai asked. "Have you heard from her since the last time she called?"

"No, she hasn't called," Luke said. "I don't know what she is up too."

"Oh that must be hard for Jess," Lorelai replied.

"I guess, he asked once about her but that's about it. He's doing okay, I think. He seems to be fine here."

"That's good, I guess. He has you, he should be great," Lorelai replied.

Luke blushed at the compliment, "I don't know. I know nothing about kids."

"To know nothing about kids, you sure are doing a great job with Jess. Plus Rory likes the time she spends with you and Jess, so no complaints on her end and she is a kid. You have Rory's approval, that's all you need really."

"Good to know," Luke said.

"You have my approval too Luke," Lorelai replied.

"Yeah?" Luke asked with a slight smile on his face.

Lorelai smiled and nodded her head, "Yeah you do."

They held one another's gaze until they both began to slowly lean in to one another. There was no clear indication on who leaned in first; both became aware of how close they were when their lips met in a soft kiss. Lips barely brushed one another before Lorelai pulled back and looked into Luke's eyes. She glanced down at his lips before leaning in again and gently brushing her lips against his once more. The kiss was soft, gentle, and shy as some first kisses are. Before the kiss could escalate, Luke pulled away.

Lorelai smiled, "That's not what I came here for just so you know."

Luke laughed, "That's not what I expected to come from inviting you upstairs."

It was Lorelai's turn to laugh, "I'm not sure what this means now. Friends generally don't kiss one another like that."

"We can just forget it ever happened if you want," Luke replied.

Lorelai sighed, "I don't want to forget it happened," she said quickly. "It's just everything is complicated with Rory right now. I like you, you're a great guy and that was a great kiss but I also have Rory to think about."

"I know," Luke replied as he placed his hand over hers. "I don't want to forget it happened either."

"So what do we do?" asked Lorelai.

"I don't know," Luke said.

Lorelai looked up at the clock in Luke's apartment, "I'll tell you what we do. We leave and go to the school to get Rory and Jess or we are going to be late."

"I guess we should go then," Luke said.

As they walked out of the apartment, Lorelai turned to face Luke. She stood on her tip-toes and quickly pressed her lips against Luke's before Luke could respond, Lorelai pulled away and smiled.

"Just checking something," Lorelai replied before walking down the stairs leading to the diner.

* * *

**So small chapter but it just kind of set things up; I was going to add more to this but decided to leave it as is**.


	10. You're full of Surprises

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls.**

**Reviews:  
Oldmoviewatcher: they are oblivious, haha.**

**Gilmoregroupie: Yes they did! I think you'll like this chapter!**

**Biancaruth: they get closer in this chapter, so I think you'll enjoy it!**

**Chloe: Here's an update for you.**

**Nancy: Luke always understands and Lorelai does finally understand exactly what Chris is about.**

**SA-fan 2011: I think you read my mind on the birthday thing which is a little freaky haha. Plus I have already given thought to Thanksgiving plans and Dark Day so I have plans for those coming up.**

* * *

Weeks had passed since the kiss that happened in Luke's apartment. The first few days, neither one brought the kiss up. One Saturday while picking Jess up from the diner, Lorelai admitted to Luke that she told Mia what happened between them and that Mia encouraged the two dating because they would be great together in her opinion. She also admitted that she was open to the idea of them dating bust also needed time to think about the possibility of them dating mostly due to Rory. Luke understood where she was coming from.

Jess was also becoming more adjusted to his life in Stars Hollow due to both Luke and Rory. He spent more time at the Inn with Rory and Lane when she was allowed to visit. The three were all best friends at this point. Lorelai still kept the secret that Jess was hanging around Lane from Mrs. Kim.

One Friday afternoon Lorelai walked up to the school to find that Luke was already there. She snuck up behind him and placed her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?" she asked.

"Hey Lorelai," Luke responded dryly.

She removed her hands from his eyes and moved to stand beside him, "How did you know it was me?"

"Who else would walk up behind me and do that?" Luke asked.

"Who knows, Kirk might do something like that," Lorelai replied.

"Kirk better not put his hands on me," Luke said.

Lorelai laughed, "I could just imagine what would happen if he ever did that."

Luke smiled then turned to look at Lorelai, "I have been thinking…"

Lorelai interrupted, "You were thinking? Can you even do that?" she joked.

"I'm being serious Lorelai," Luke responded.

"Oh sorry, okay serious face," Lorelai said.

"I know that you said you wanted to think about us dating, if there was that possibility, and it has been a few weeks since we had that talk and I was just wondering," Luke said before trailing off thinking of how to word his next sentence.

"Um Luke are you trying to ask me out on a date?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, I'm trying too. You can say no if you still need time to think about it," Luke replied.

"I'll go out with you," Lorelai replied.

"You don't need more time to think about it?" Luke asked.

Lorelai smiled, "No, I'm fine. I'll go on a date with you. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night," Luke said. "It's kind of last minute I know."

"Tomorrow's fine actually," Lorelai replied. "Rory is spending the night at Lane's so I was going to be alone tomorrow night anyways."

"Mia agreed to watch Jess so I'll just pick you up around 7 after I drop Jess off," Luke suggested.

"Already asked Mia to watch Jess for tomorrow night? Were you that confident I was going to say yes?" Lorelai teased.

Luke smiled, "Well I was hoping you would say yes."

"Well I did say yes so,"

"So I'll pick you up tomorrow."

"Exactly; I think I'm going to wait to tell Rory about this though. Just to make sure things work out and to get her used to the idea," Lorelai said.

Luke nodded, "I understand."

The school bell rang and kids came running out. Jess and Rory were the last two to exit the building. They were walking side by side talking to one another all the way until they reached Luke and Lorelai. Once they all said bye to one another, they went their separate ways.

* * *

Saturday after dropping Rory off at Lane's, Lorelai headed back to the Inn to get ready for her date with Luke. He never told her where they were going or what they were doing so she had no idea how to dress. She decided to call Sookie in for back-up.

Lorelai was digging through her clothes when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Lorelai said knowing that it was Sookie at the door.

"I'm here, I can help now," Sookie said walking through the doorway.

"Great, I have no idea what I should wear. He didn't say anything about where we were going so I can't decide on anything," Lorelai said panicking.

"You look great in everything," Sookie replied. "Just wear a dress; it can be casual or dressy."

"Okay, good thing we are thinking alike. I'm torn between these two dresses though," Lorelai said holding up a blue dress and a pink dress.

"I think blue; it goes with your eyes," Sookie said.

"Find some shoes to match this please and I will change real quick, Luke might be here soon," Lorelai said going behind the curtain she had installed around the bathroom area.

While Lorelai was changing, Sookie picked through Lorelai's shoes trying to find a pair to match the dress. She decided on a pair of strappy black heels. A few minutes later, Lorelai emerged from the bathroom area with her makeup retouched and the dress on.

"I thought these shoes would go great with your dress," Sookie said.

"Oh thank you Sookie. I'm just a little nervous about tonight."

"I'm sure tonight is going to go great. He really likes you. I can tell."

Lorelai slid the shoes on and walked over to her dresser. She picked up a clip and secured some of her hair back allowing a few curls to fall in her face. "I like him too," she said. "I just hope that if everything does work out and we continue to date that Rory will be okay with this."

"You didn't tell her about tonight?" Sookie asked.

"No, I didn't. I just didn't want this to be a one-time thing and have it confuse Rory," Lorelai replied.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lorelai walked over to the door to answer it.

"Hey," Luke said as Lorelai answered the door.

"Hi," Lorelai replied shyly taking in his appearance. She noticed there was no flannel or baseball cap present. "I'm almost ready I swear. Come in," she said stepping out of the way allowing Luke to walk in.

"Hey Luke," Sookie said as he walked in.

"Oh hey," Luke replied.

"I'll just leave you two alone," Sookie replied. "He cleans up good," Sookie whispered as she passed Lorelai before heading out the door. Lorelai giggled.

"Just let me grab my coat and then we can go," Lorelai said walking across the room to get her coat. She slid on her coat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. "I'm ready now."

"You look beautiful," Luke said.

A blush crept onto Lorelai's cheeks, "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself. Who knew you owned something else besides all that flannel?"

"I'm just full of surprises," Luke replied. "We should get going."

"Okay," Lorelai said. As they left the potting shed and headed towards the truck, she felt Luke place his hand on her back guiding her.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" Lorelai asked once they were on the road.

"Nope," Luke replied.

"Please tell me," Lorelai begged.

"I'm not telling," Luke said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Can you at least tell me if what I'm wearing is appropriate for whatever we are doing?" Lorelai asked.

"We are going to dinner and what you are wearing is great," Luke replied.

Before too long, they arrived at a small restaurant. "Where are we at?" Lorelai questioned.

"Sniffy's, you will like this place. Trust me," Luke said opening the door for Lorelai. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her inside the restaurant.

"Oh Lucas, you're here," Maisy said walking over to Luke and Lorelai.

"Lucas?" Lorelai questioned looking at Luke.

"Shhh," Luke replied. "Hey Maisy," he said hugging the older woman. "Maisy this is Lorelai."

"Hi Maisy," Lorelai said smiling.

"She's beautiful," Maisy said. "Oh wait I almost forgot it's your birthday. Happy Birthday Lucas."

Lorelai shot Luke a questioning glance. She had no idea it was his birthday. Luke just smiled shyly. "Thank you Maisy."

"I have a table all set up for you, just follow me," Maisy replied before turning and walking way indicating for Luke and Lorelai to follow her. "Here you go," she said taking the reserved sign off the table.

Luke and Lorelai took their places at the table. "Lucas never brings any girls here, you must be pretty special."

Lorelai looked over at Luke who was now blushing, "I guess so."

"I'll be right back with your food," Maisy said.

Lorelai looked over at Luke as Maisy walked away, "Did she just say she will be back with the food? We didn't order anything."

"You don't have to order anything. Even if you do order something, they will bring you something different."

"Oh and how do you know all of this? How do you know them? Do you come here a lot or something?"

"I have known Buddy and Maisy for years. They were friends with my parents. Buddy helped me out with the diner when I was just getting started. I do like to come here a lot though," Luke replied.

Lorelai shook her head and smiled, "You are just really full of surprises tonight."

Maisy and Buddy returned to the table with plates full of food. Buddy introduced himself to Lorelai before wishing Luke a happy birthday. Once all the food was served and champagne poured, Maisy and Buddy left the two alone to enjoy their dinner.

"Hey Luke," Lorelai said as they were eating, "Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders, "It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal Luke, it's your birthday. You're a whole year older now. Actually you know what I don't even think I know your age. So since it's your birthday and all how old are you?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm 26," Luke replied.

"Hmm an older man, I'm intrigued," Lorelai teased. "I wish you would have told me though. I could have bought you something."

"You don't have to get me anything."

"I know I don't have too but I wanted too," Lorelai said placing her hand over his and smiling. "Now see this is the part where you could totally chime in and say that just being here with me tonight was enough of a present. Jeez Luke work on your flirting."

Luke laughed, "Yeah whatever you just said."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "Wow way to make a girl feel special."

Luke smirked, "I try."

"Is Jess spending the night with Mia too or are you picking him up later?" Lorelai asked once they were back in the truck headed back to Stars Hollow.

"I was going to pick him up later but Mia insisted that he spend the night since she thought we might get back later and she did not want to keep him up," Luke said. "Why?"

"Just wondering when you needed to get back," Lorelai said. "Where are you taking me too now?"

"What do you want to do?" Luke asked.

"Hey, you're the one that asked me out, you were supposed to come up with the plans," Lorelai replied.

"Movie?" Luke asked as they passed the Welcome to Stars Hollow sign.

"We could just go back to your apartment and watch something," Lorelai suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Luke said parking his truck close to the diner.

* * *

He led Lorelai through the diner and up to his apartment. Once upstairs, Lorelai shrugged off her coat and sat down on the couch. She patted the spot next to her for Luke to sit down. Luke took off his jacket and sat down next to Lorelai. She grabbed the remote off the table and began flipping through the channels. Luke wrapped his arm around Lorelai's shoulder's pulling her closer as she decided on a TV program.

While watching TV, Lorelai could feel Luke staring at her. She turned to face him, "You're staring."

"You're beautiful," Luke said.

Lorelai smiled as she felt herself blush, "Flattery will get you everywhere my friend." She ran her fingers over the light stubble on his jaw before slowly pulling his face closer to hers. She captured his lips in a soft, slow kiss.

"Happy Birthday," she said pulling away.

"Is that my present?" Luke smirked.

"Well it's the only one I could come up with at the last minute," Lorelai responded. "There might be a little bit of your present left."

"Really?" Luke questioned. Lorelai nodded. He leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers. Lorelai immediately responded moving her lips softly against his. She moved and wrapped her arms around his neck pressing herself into the kiss. Once oxygen became a necessity, Lorelai pulled away.

"Didn't we come up here to watch TV?" Luke asked.

"Are you complaining?" Lorelai asked.

"Definitely not," Luke replied.

"Good," Lorelai said pulling him closer and pressing her lips to his once again.

Luke ran his tongue along her bottom lip. She opened her mouth allowing him entry and moaned softly as she felt his tongue caress hers. Luke wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her closer. She moved to sit on his lap while keeping their lips connected.

"You've been holding out on me," Lorelai whispered breathlessly.

"I have wanted to kiss you again since that day in my apartment," Luke replied.

"Good response," Lorelai complimented.

Luke smiled before leaning up and kissing her again. Luke wrapped both arms around her waist and easily lifted her from his lap. He laid her down on the couch and positioned himself above her. Lorelai once again wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down closer to her. Luke pulled away from her lips and began placing light kisses down her jawline unto her neck. Lorelai moaned softly as Luke kissed, nipped and sucked at her neck.

"Not that I don't enjoy what you're doing but I don't need a hickey there that I have to explain to Rory," Lorelai said.

"Sorry," Luke replied.

"Oh don't be sorry, you're great at that but Rory will notice if there's a mark there and she gets very curious about things," Lorelai said. "Just focus on kissing me now."

"I'll do that," Luke said leaning down and capturing her lips with his. Lorelai felt herself being pressed into the couch as the kiss deepened. Lorelai sucked gently on his bottom lip and smiled when she heard him moan. Luke slowly ran his hands up her legs inching up her dress.

"Luke," Lorelai said getting no response. "Luke," she said a little louder moving her mouth away from his. "We should stop."

"What?" Luke asked pulling away.

"I said we should stop," she said pulling herself into a sitting position.

"Oh okay," Luke replied sitting down next to her.

"You're not mad are you?" Lorelai questioned.

"No Lorelai, I'm not mad," Luke replied.

"I'm just making sure. It's just I haven't slept with anyone in a while. The only person being Christopher and that's all he ever wanted. I just didn't want you to be mad for making you stop," Lorelai said quietly.

Luke turned her face so she was facing him, "I'm not that guy. If you don't feel comfortable with something then I want you to tell me. This night was not about sleeping with you. I want more than that from whatever this is that we're doing," he said softly.

Lorelai smiled shyly, "Thank you Luke. I should probably get going."

"You can stay if you want too, we can just watch TV," Luke said. "For real this time."

"It's late, I should get back. Plus Mia is bringing Rory back in the morning so I should probably be at the Inn when that happens," Lorelai said.

"Let me walk you back," Luke said.

"I would be offended if you didn't," Lorelai replied.

* * *

"Thanks for walking me home," Lorelai said as they stood in front of the door of the potting shed.

"You're welcome," Luke replied.

"I had a great time tonight," Lorelai said smiling. "Looking forward to next time."

"Next time?" Luke asked.

"Yeah next time you take me on a date; after tonight there definitely has to be a next time. You can get to planning something else," Lorelai replied.

Luke smiled, "I'll think of something."

"You better," she said poking him in the chest. "Goodnight Luke."

"Goodnight Lorelai." He cupped her face with his hand gently pulling her closer. Lorelai smiled as Luke pressed his lips to hers in a soft, goodnight kiss.

"Goodnight again," she whispered pulling away and opening the door.

Luke laughed, "Goodnight again."

She stepped inside and smiled at him before shutting the door. Luke stood outside for a minute smiling to himself before heading back towards the diner.

* * *

**Thanks for continuing to read/review! I really do appreciate it!**

**Please leave a review if you wish. :)**


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